April 2013 NPD - Software, industry sales, analysis

- industry sales slumped 25 percent hitting $495.2 million
- software ales fell 17 percent to $267.8 million
- hardware sales fell 42 percent to $109.5 million
- accessory sales fell 19 percent to $131.4 million

“Despite overall declines, April title launches in 2013 fared better than games that launched in April 2012, up 118 percent in unit sales and 130 percent in dollar sales. This increase was driven by games like Injustice: Gods Among Us, Dead Island: Riptide, and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins.

Overall declines are stemming from the performance of games launched prior to April; for example, the decrease in sales performance of March launches. Specifically, when looking at video games launching in March 2012, month 2 sales represented 25 percent of the total first two months of sales, which contracted to 17 percent for March 2013 launches. One reason for this might be the decrease in the number of new titles, which can cause sales of a title to be 'front loaded' with a greater amount of sales happening in the first month of its release.” - NPD analyst Liam Callahan

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