EA Sports' pro football sim is month's best-seller, followed by Borderlands 2 rising 234 percent over original; total software sales down 14 percent year-over-year; Xbox 360 sells 270k holding 49 percent of current-gen market.
Gamers caught football fever in September. The NPD Group reported September industry sales figures for the United States today, revealing Madden NFL 13 as the month's best-seller. Sales of the new game jumped 11 percent over last year's iteration.
Another top performer for September was Borderlands 2. It took the number two spot for the month, and bested the first-month sales of the original Borderlands by 234 percent. Specific sales figures were not revealed.
Overall, total software sales were down 14 percent year-over-year. NPD analyst Liam Callahan attributed this downturn to a stronger slate of new titles launching this time last year that included Gears of War 3 and Dead Island.
The retail PC game sector was a bright spot for the month, rising 12 percent year-over-year. This boost was attributed to the high-profile recent launches of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Guild Wars 2, and Diablo III.
Hardware took the biggest hit during September, diving 39 percent year-on-year to $210.9 million. However, Callahan believes there is reason to be optimistic.
“Hardware sales are up on an average sales per week basis compared to August for the NDS, 3DS, PS3, Vita, and 360, which points to momentum heading into the holiday season,” Callahan said.
NPD did not divulge specific sales figures for hardware, but Microsoft spokesperson Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb chimed in over Twitter, revealing the Xbox 360 moved 270,000 units during September. He claims the Xbox 360 now represents 49 percent of total current-generation console marketshare for the US.
Of note, Electronic Arts titles accounted for 50 percent of September's best-selling games and no Call of Duty game broke the top ten list.
SEPTEMBER US GAME SALES (August 26-September 29)
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total retail sales: $843.3 million (-24%)
Non-PC hardware: $210.9 million (-39%)
Non-PC software: $497.4 million (-18%)
Accessories: $139.9 million (-11%)
Total software: $547.3 million (-14%)
TOP 10 GAMES FOR SEPTEMBER 2012
Title (Platforms) - Publisher
1. Madden NFL 13 (X360, PS3, Wii, PS Vita) - Electronic Arts
2. Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
3. FIFA Soccer 13 (PS3, X360, PS Vita, Wii, 3DS, PSP) - Electronic Arts
4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) - Nintendo
5. Guild Wars 2 (PC) - NCSoft
6. NHL 13 (X360, PS3) - Electronic Arts
7. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC) - Activision Blizzard
8. NCAA Football 13 (X360, PS3) - Electronic Arts
9. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (X360, Wii, 3DS, DS, PS3, PS Vita, PC) - Warner Bros. Interactive
10. Battlefield 3 (X360, PS3, PC) - Electronic Arts
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
i don't get the Xbox 360 now represents 49 percent of total current-generation console market share for the US statement what does than mean, does the 49% current gen include both the ps3 and Wii or just the ps3,this either means the x360 is 49% and the ps3 51 percent or the x360 is 49% and both the wii and ps3 combined are 51 percent
so have the ps3 surpassed the 360 or have the 360 surpassed the wii
should we assume ps3 beat the x360 due to the slim slim ps3 and that MS didn't do their usual we the best selling console for the month press release
2 Like That's kinda depressing that 4 of the top 10 are annual sports game releases... Hoorah for innovation!
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@GamerMani you sir must love creativity and i know you love quality game such as madden good for you keep supporting EA and madden because the JOKE IS ON YOU JAJAJAJAJAJJJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJ
It's not good to see all these sport games sell superb with the same price as all the other games on them. It's just not fair.
Not that anything is wrong with sport games but their developers just re-skin the previous game with no actual change then sell it with the same price as all those other games that have been in development for years.
@Jamesp2005 I can see the original having sold more steadily as word of mouth spread about this awesome shooter that wasn't getting the hype of other games... I didn't pick it up until a year or so after it was released and then bought it again when the GOTY edition came out.
Whereas this time around I bought the Loot Chest edition as soon as I could pre-order it.
Wish this website did lists from other parts of the world.... Not just the US and Japan.
UK, Australia, Russia..
It'd just be interesting to see what parts of the world play what games more than anything.
@warhawk-geeby GS does occationally list UK and Australian sales but its not a regular thing
1 Like NPD is U.S. only. I'm not aware if other counties has companies like NPD to keep track of sales. If they do, then Gamespot should post the information.
@blackace @warhawk-geeby UK = Chart-Track
Japan = Media Create(they provide public sales numbers)
Those two have weekly charts. Gamespot used to always post these sales lists, but they only post these occasionally now.
Thanks to Gamefly, I never have to give EA my $60 for the annual roster update that is Madden. Here's hoping that we'll soon have multiple NFL console games once again.
Yeah, I hope so. Last Madden game I bought was Madden 10 I believe. Before that it was Madden 06. With NBA 2K11 and NBA 2K12, I thought 2KSports was just going to update the rosters for these 2 games until the 2015 season. They really didn't need to make a NBA 2K13, which has a lot of issues, anyway.
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Thankfully I rented Madden and have long since returned it. It was a turd. (Sshh, no one say anything about how I bought Madden 12)
I am mystified as to how one of the buggiest and least polished Madden games of all time, sells this many copies. I'm a fan of the series but 13 is a cruel joke played on football fans.
I heard it was pretty bad, but all you hear is praises in the Ads of course. I had no desire to buy it at all. Borderlands 2 is better and I got that.
@blackace @Bleak5170 @mulder_000 It was decent. If Madden had taken the time to polish it, and added the features it was missing, it would deserve a worth 7.5. I'll probably buy it when it hits $20-30 next month. But yeah, it was missing a bunch of stuff from previous games in the franchise.
4 Like Am I the only one who hates seeing Madden at the top of the list. Every game on that list is better than Madden... yes even that one.
Now it makes sense why Madden 13 released in late August... So they could get free publicity on the September sales charts. Borderlands 2 would have beaten Madden 13 easily. Now scrubs will read the headline, think Madden is doing great, and run and buy a copy.
@Neo_Sarevok You must be retarded. Madden is released in late August to correspond with OH SHIT the start of the NFL season. And who are these people looking at sales charts and buying games accordingly?Have you ever seen these sales charts reported anywhere other than a gaming site? The idea that someone would only buy games that sell well regardless of reviews is absurd and you and your borderlands addled mind should stop creating connections that do not exist.
No surpirse since Madden is the ONLY football game in town. When that NFL license expires Madden won't even be on the charts..
3 Like I was just thinking, "How does 360 make up 49% of current gen consoles in homes??????" then I remembered that I have a 360 as well- I just only play it once every few months lol. And hats off to BF 3 still on that list almost a year later, Activision should go give DICE and EA blumpkins
@theexperience13 Battlefield 3 is on the list because OH SHIT THEY JUST RELEASED A NEW VERSION OF THE GAME IN SEPTEMBER
@theexperience13 This close to the next CoD game, I can understand why it wouldn't be on the list.
I'm surprised Borderlands 2 didn't bump Madden off the charts, even if its just another yearly update...
@alenth One time purchase. Even people already paying for an mmo don't have a reason to not pick it up.
1 Like @metalkid9 i have BF 3 and never play it, but it just makes me so happy that theres an FPS selling better year-round than the piece of yearly crap that is CoD :)
@Kiriyama_X Aye. 8 Years on current generation and Madden still doesn't have correct movement/momentum, route based passing (still throw catch regardless of route), and other problems both on and off the field. :(
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