US Retail Video Game Sales Drop 25% in October

[Karloff]

US Retail Video Game Sales Drop 25% in October

Bethesda's Dishonored hits #4 in the October rankings, with 460,200 units sold.

The US retail figures for October 2012 are out, and in a year-on-year comparison with last October, game sales fell by 25%, dropping from $1 billion to $775 million. Hardware took the biggest hit, suffering a 37% decline in year-on-year sales.

Some signs of momentum in the hardware market, including higher sales for the Xbox 360, were attributed to the Christmas build-up. Neither Sony nor Nintendo were willing to disclose US hardware sales.

In a welcome bit of news for Bethesda, its new IP Dishonored sold 470,200 units in October, with Christmas yet to come. Meanwhile Capcom's statement that Resident Evil 6 Western sales are "successful to some degree" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120511-Western-Resident-Evil-6-Reception-Doesnt-Worry-Capcom] have been justified, as its zombie horror game shot to the #2 spot.

The complete October rankings are as follows:


1. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC)
2. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)
3. Pokemon Black Version 2 (NDS)
4. Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
5. Pokemon White Version 2 (NDS)
6. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
7. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, PSP)
8. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS)


Source: Game Informer [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/11/08/nba-2k13-leads-october-u-s-sales.aspx]


Permalink

 

[snagli]

And then people will blame piracy, and this will cause developers to put even crazier DRM on their games, and then people won't buy their games because of said DRM, and the cycle will continue.

Of course that's not the real reason that sales are shitty, but they'll say it nonetheless.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I don't even remember what came out last month other than Creed3. I really don't remember what came out last year in October(Maybe Deus Ex?). I remember that Skyrim came out in November.

 

[Ruairi iliffe]

And then people will blame piracy, and this will cause developers to put even crazier DRM on their games, and then people won't buy their games because of said DRM, and the cycle will continue.

Of course that's not the real reason that sales are shitty, but they'll say it nonetheless.

While some might blame piracy, looking at the Information they seem to be only Brick and mortar sales as I'm very sure Dishonored soled a hell of a lot on Digital of late, same with several other titles in that list.

OT: We really need Valve and other digital groups to give out sales details at some point, as with the amount of shrinkage in Physical Retail its really starting to come off like the overall market is shrinking.

 

[Nihlus2]

I am pretty sure we need a comparison here from the titles released last year at the time. Beside Dishonored, I see nothing but sequels... with fairly high numbers on most of them.

Fewer releases and more of "the same old we have seen in the prequel", might not be as appealing to buy as original IPs. Fanbases buying a saturated franchise can only get you so far.

 

[blackrave]

1. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC)
2. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)
3. Pokemon Black Version 2 (NDS)
4. Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
5. Pokemon White Version 2 (NDS)
6. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
7. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, PSP)
8. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS)

We have these abominations in the list and no X-Com?
.
.
.
Suddenly getting a gun and going on killing spree doesn't seem so bad idea anymore

 

[Erttheking]

1. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC)
2. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)
3. Pokemon Black Version 2 (NDS)
4. Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
5. Pokemon White Version 2 (NDS)
6. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
7. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, PSP)
8. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS)

We have these abominations in the list and no X-Com?
.
.
.
Suddenly getting a gun and going on killing spree doesn't seem so bad idea anymore

People buy games you don't like and you want to kill people? Little extreme don't you think?

 

[esperandote]

I dont know or have heard about anyone that has buy NBA 2K13

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

It's kind of interesting that Pokemon occupies two slots and is split by Dishonored.
I guess Pokemon Black 2 is more preferable than Pokemon White 2.

Then again more people bought Silver than Gold when they came out the first time
and more people bought Gold than Silver when they were remade.

 

[blackrave]

People buy games you don't like and you want to kill people? Little extreme don't you think?

No not really, just loosing faith in humanity one BS at the time.
How the hell "50 shades of brown" (aka "Doorfighter") made this list?
(I clearly remember that Spec Ops: The Line had some troubles with sales, but suddenly people buy THIS, really?)
And people who buys "sports" games are just weirdos (If I could run my own real-life anti-alien paramilitary organization I would, but you CAN play the sports in real life so do it instead of wasting money on DLCs priced as a full games)

 

[Erttheking]

People buy games you don't like and you want to kill people? Little extreme don't you think?

No not really, just loosing faith in humanity one BS at the time.
How the hell "50 shades of brown" (aka "Doorfighter") made this list?
(I clearly remember that Spec Ops: The Line had some troubles with sales, but suddenly people buy THIS, really?)
And people who buys "sports" games are just weirdos (If I could run my own real-life anti-alien paramilitary organization I would, but you CAN play the sports in real life so do it instead of wasting money on DLCs priced as a full games)

It really just seems like you're complaining about people not having the exact same tastes as you.

So if it's actually possible in real life it's weird to play a video game about it?...yeah, I don't buy that at all. Not everyone has the body to be an athlete.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

1. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC)
2. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)
3. Pokemon Black Version 2 (NDS)
4. Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
5. Pokemon White Version 2 (NDS)
6. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
7. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, PSP)
8. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS)

We have these abominations in the list and no X-Com?
.
.
.
Suddenly getting a gun and going on killing spree doesn't seem so bad idea anymore

People buy games you don't like and you want to kill people? Little extreme don't you think?

I think it's a little extreme to take that post as nothing more than a joke and a shot a a bunch of sports games/a bad FPS.

 

[Irridium]

1. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC)
2. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)
3. Pokemon Black Version 2 (NDS)
4. Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
5. Pokemon White Version 2 (NDS)
6. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
7. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, PSP)
8. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS)

We have these abominations in the list and no X-Com?
.
.
.
Suddenly getting a gun and going on killing spree doesn't seem so bad idea anymore

Those are only physical sales. Don't worry about XCOM, it was a success.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/10/31/xcom-enemy-unknown-a-success-more-dlc-coming.aspx

So just put the gun down, and take deep breaths.

 

[Beautiful End]

I don't even remember what came out last month other than Creed3. I really don't remember what came out last year in October(Maybe Deus Ex?). I remember that Skyrim came out in November.

You're right. I think I remember Batman: Arkham City coming out last October...and I think Ratchet and Clank All 4 One. And the Sims 3 pets. I remember because they all came out the same night I was working that shift.

OT: I DO find it surprising that games like NBA, FIFA and Madden are there. Not because I find it hard to believe people would rather buy those games over others (I do, but that's my problem). But because 1. FIFA is a popular game...in other countries. I know, I know, it's not impossible for Americans to like FIFA but still. I've seen it firsthand. 2. Madden came out in August! Are we really lacking good titles so much that games like Borderlands 2 and Madden, games that came out a while ago, are still on the top 10?

Warfighter and RE6 are just there because they got lucky. The poor saps who bought them because of the IP's popularity helped boost those sales.

 

[GAunderrated]

I am actually sad that RE6 is on that list at all. First RE game I never even thought twice about buying yet it proves that no matter how shit a game is, a well known name sells.

 

[cookyt]

I am actually sad that RE6 is on that list at all. First RE game I never even thought twice about buying yet it proves that no matter how shit a game is, a well known name sells.

I have a bit of a theory: when a particularly bad game that is part of a long standing franchise of good games comes out, there is a one-game lag before people wise up. That's to say, while Resident Evil 6 might sell pretty well, the next Resident Evil will experience poor sales. I think this will happen even if the next Resident Evil is a reasonably good game.

It's sort of the inverse of what happens when a good game with little franchise history or poor marketing comes out, and not many buy it. Take, for example, what happened with Demon's Souls and Dark Souls: Demon's Souls was mostly a cult hit, while Dark Souls did very well.

Ultimately, it's tied to the idea that people will buy what is familiar, but are very cautious to not be burned twice. Bad games will always die, but that their deaths vary with how familiar they are to the public.

I have no empirical evidence to back it up yet as I haven't yet had time to do the research, but the idea keeps me a bit hopeful.


OT:
I can't imagine that the lower sales are a result of a smaller market. Maybe people are just satisfied with the games which came out a few months ago, and nothing coming out catches their eye.

The real culprit is probably rising digital sales. Until we aggregate this data with that of Steam, GOG, and other popular online retailers, we're only getting half the story.