Playstation 4 Dominates Xbox One In July NPD, ‘The Last Of Us’ Best Selling Game
The next-gen console war between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One continues to tilt in Sony’s favor. The NPD result for July 2014 were released Thursday and revealed the PS4 was on top again, not just with console sales but heavily on the software side as well, thanks to the release of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Remastered.
Spending on gaming console for July 2014 was up 100 percent over the same month last year to $198.8 million, according to VentureBeat. The bulk of that was due to sales of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Neither Microsoft or Sony were willing to reveal any official numbers for the month, but they did make the following statements via press releases.
“PlayStation 4 was #1 in sales for the seventh consecutive month and remains the cumulative leader for next generation game consoles,” Sony said in a statement.
“Xbox One continues to sell at a strong and steady pace following the release of the $399 console in June, when month-to-month sales more than doubled,” a Microsoft spokesperson told GamesBeat. “We continued to see this momentum in July.”
If Microsoft’s statement is true, the Xbox One shouldn’t be that far behind the PlayStation 4 for July. An accidental leak of hardware numbers for June 2014 in a pulled GameCrate article (via NeoGAF) revealed that the PS4 led 269K versus 197K for the Xbox One. That split is likely similar for July.
Still, both consoles are showing stronger results than their predecessors according to NPD analyst Liam Callahan.
“When combining life-to-date sales of Xbox One and PS4 after nine months, and comparing them to the combined totals of nine months of sales for Xbox 360 and PS3, sales of the newest consoles are larger than the prior generation by close to 80 percent,” he said.
Sony recently announced the PlayStation 4 has already crossed the 10 million units sold mark.
Where the PlayStation 4’s dominance really came in was through software sales. According to Sony’s press release, “PlayStation 4 led the month for next generation software sales by a considerable margin, with The Last of Us Remastered taking the #1 spot.”
It then added, “PlayStation 4 games accounted for more than half of total next generation software sales” and “More than 30 million copies of PS4 software have been sold in retail stores globally and through digital downloads on PS Store.”
That’s a significant turnaround from the previous generation when the Xbox 360 led software sales on most multi-platform releases. You can see that still reflected in the top ten software sales for the month. The Xbox 360 leads the PS3 in all games while the PlayStation 4 leads the Xbox One in all but one game, Call of Duty: Ghosts.
1. The Last of Us (PS4, PS3)
2. Minecraft (360, PS3)
3. FIFA 14 (360,PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Vita)
4. Watch Dogs (PS4, 360, PS3, Xbox One, PC)
5. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
6. Call of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3, Wii U, PC)
7. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
8. Sniper Elite III (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
9. NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
10. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, PS3, 3DS, DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One, Vita, PC)
It’s important to note, however, that July is typically a very slow month for console software sales. In fact, software sales were down 15 percent overall from year-to-year. Part of the reason is that The Last of Us Remastered was the only major release for any console for the month.
The upcoming holiday sales period will be one to watch for the console war between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Microsoft is opening with bundles featuring Sunset Overdrive, Madden NFL 15, FIFA 14 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Sony is currently countering with a Destiny bundle.
What do you think of these NPD sales numbers for July 2014? Is it just part of the down release cycle for the month or part of a larger trend? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Naughty Dog]
