Video Game Sales Drop 13% In January

By Lisa Johnston -- TWICE, 2/22/2010

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — Video game sales dropped 13 percent in January, when compared with dollar sales in the prior-year period, according to The NPD Group.

January 2010 sales of video games were $1.17 billion, down from $1.34 billion in 2009. Hardware sales were $353.7 million, down 21 percent from the prior year’s $446.8 million.

Software sales dropped 12 percent, from $682.6 million in 2009, to $597.9 million in 2010.

Video game accessories sales were the lone growth category, showing a 2 percent increase in sales. January sales were $217 million, up from $211 million in the prior-year period.

The Wii was the most popular hardware unit for the period, followed by the Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 and the Play- Station Portable.

David Riley, NPD director, said of the figures, “January was a month when the core gaming segment flexed its muscle. Sales of the top 10 titles were up 20 percent over January 2009’s top 10, with three of the top five titles appealing to the core gamer.

“The successful launch of Mass Effect 2, which was the second best-selling SKU and best-selling launch title for the month, speaks to power and inf luence of this important segment. Mass Effect 2 only had five days in the January data month, selling an average of 114,000 per day in the United States. alone. That’s impressive,” Riley added.