U.S. market retail tracking firm NPD has released its sales numbers for December as well as overall sales for 2011, and to no one’s surprise, Call of Duty is at the top.
Overall sales for video games were down 8% to $9.3 billion in 2011 compared to 2010’s $10.1 billion in sales
“Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions.”
Microsoft had the best-selling hardware platform in 2011, outselling the second place console by more than 2.7 million units on the year. Microsoft moved 1.7 million units in the month of December.
Sony reports the PlayStation 3 saw “increases in hardware, software and peripherals to date. The company claims over 6.5 million PlayStation devices were sold during December.
Nintendo reports 3.3 million total hardware units were sold during December. They have sold more than 12 million hardware units total in the U.S. in 2011, including over four million of the 3DS alone.
“Hardware was particularly hard hit in December. Normally, we see sales increase from November to December on an average sales per week basis (keeping in mind December is a 5-week retail month as compared to November which is a 4-week retail month),” Frazier added. “The 3DS and the DS were the only platforms to realize a unit sales increase versus November, which is highly unusual since typically all platforms enjoy a lift in the biggest month at retail.”
The list of best-sellers for December as well as the overall 2011 list can be found below.
Annual 2011 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
- Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
- Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
- Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)
- Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)
- Gears of War 3 (360)
- Just Dance 2 (Wii)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
December 2011 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
- Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
- Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
- Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
- Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
- NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
- Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
- Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)