19% Drop in Game Sales For October - Wii & Uncharted 2 Top Sellers

Sales of video games for the month of October amounted to $1.07 billion dollars, a decrease of 19% year on year, and 16% less than September.  NPD's monthly reports came with a note of hope stating that with Activision's Modern Warfare 2 coming out this month, a turn around in sales is expected for November.  Likewise, even though this month's sales were poor, it's still the 3rd largest October that the video game industry has ever had.  NPD analyst Anita Frazier writes:

"The continued economic turmoil, and in particular the troubling unemployment rate, is undoubtedly impacting industry sales.  Our latest Economy Tracker indicated that although consumers' general opinion about the economy is improving, their outlook on their own personal situation is worsening. If consumers' personal outlook continues to erode, they could very well be much more conservative with their holiday shopping this year."

Nintendo led this month's NPD numbers for next gen consoles,  followed by Sony's PlayStation 3, and bringing up the rear was Microsoft's Xbox 360.

  • Wii: 506,900
  • PlayStation 3: 320,600
  • Xbox 360: 249,700

Fraizer wrapped up NPD's statement with this quote:

"Year to date, the hardware category has experienced the sharpest decline in the industry, with unit sales down 10 percent compared to the same time period last year.  Recent price cuts helped spur a one- to two-month increase in unit sales, and this month's Wii sales reflect that boost, but the other platforms have not sustained the sales momentum..."

Although the Nintendo Wii beat other systems this month, it's sales have fallen for eight straight months.

On the software side, Uncharted 2 beat all comers, but Wii Fit Plus and Borderlands put in numbers in excess of 400,000 units sold.

  • Uncharted 2: 537,000
  • Wii Fit Plus: 441,000
  • Borderlands: 418,000
  • Wii Sports Resort: 314,000
  • NBA 2K10:  311,000 (360), 213,000 (PS3)
  • Halo 3: ODST:  271,000
  • Forza Motorsport 3: 175,000
  • Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: 169,000
  • FIFA Soccer 10:  156,000

Games from the Stage Select database mentioned in this story:

| Wii Sports Resort  (Wii) | Modern Warfare 2  (PC) | Modern Warfare 2  (PlayStation 3) | Modern Warfare 2  (Xbox 360) | Wii Fit Plus  (Wii) | Borderlands  (PC) | Borderlands  (PlayStation 3) | Borderlands  (Xbox 360) |

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