Last month, sales of packaged video game software and equipment plunged 25% compared to the same time last year.
Industry research firm NPD estimates that gaming hardware sales plummeted 36% in February. Software sales weren’t much better, down 27%. All video-game related sales totaled about $810 million for the month, the Seattle Times noted.
The top selling video game last month was Electronic Arts’ (NASDAQ:EA) Dead Space 3. Activision Blizzard‘s (NASDAQ:ATVI) Call of Duty: Black Ops II was ranked second, followed by EA’s Crysis 3, 2K Sports’ NBA 2K13, Konami‘s (NYSE:KNM) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Sega’s Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Physical gaming hardware and software sales have been hammered by the rise of digital gaming app downloads. Sales of video-game accessories suffered the lowest drop last month, falling only 3%.
Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox gaming consoled topped equipment sales. Monthly Xbox sales have surpassed rival consoles for more than a year an a half. In December, Microsoft announced the launch of download-able apps for the console.
Despite the weak sales news, shares of video game retail chain GameStop (NYSE:GME) rose fractionally in Friday trading.
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