Xbox One and NBA 2K17 top the sales charts in September, according to NPD

Overall spending on software, hardware and accessories declined year over year.

Asif Khan

October 20, 2016 7:45 PM

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NPD Group is out with September sales data for the video games industry. NBA 2K17 topped the charts in software sales while Xbox One's sales momentum kept it on top of hardware sales. The overall September sales of video games software, hardware and accesories declined 23% from a year ago mainly due to less titles shipping this year than September of 2015 which was packed full of big releases.

Video Games Software

Spending on software, hardware and accessories declined by 23 percent compared to this time last year. The release of the PS4 Slim and the second month of the Xbox One S was not enough to stimulate total hardware spending and this month's new software releases, NBA 2K17, FIFA 17, NHL 17 and Forza Horizon 3 could not compete with last year's stronger slate of new games which included NBA 2K16, FIFA 16, NHL 16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Destiny: The Taken King, Mad Max, Disney Infinity 3.0 and Super Mario Maker for the Wii U.

Video Games Hardware

September 2016 saw the release of the PS4 Slim. Only one SKU lauched, PS4 Slim 500GB Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and for the month it was the third best-selling hardware SKU.

The 3DS experienced its fourth consecutive month of increased hardware unit sales compared to last year. Since the release of Pokémon Go, back in July 2016, the 3DS has experienced a resurgence in hardware spending.

The Xbox One brand was the best-selling hardware for the month and accounted for 37 percent of all hardware units sold. This was not enough to counter a revenue decline in total hardware. Due to average retail price declines for consoles and a decrease in hardware units sold for the PS4 and the Wii U, total hardware dollar spending declined by 25 percent since September 2015.

Video Games Accessories

Total accessory spending excluding Point Card sales, declined 30 percent compared to September 2015. Consumers this month spent $47M less than they did last year, with 82 percent of this decline coming from interactive gaming toys.

Interactive gaming toy (IGT) accessory spending reached $13M, which is 75 percent less than a year ago. Last year, Lego Dimensions launched, Skylanders: SuperCharges released and there were 13 new amiibos. This year the new Skylanders accessory, Skylanders: Imaginators, is expected to release in October 2016 and no new amiibos launched in September 2016.

Xbox One controller spending increased compared to September 2015. The increase was mostly due to the Xbox One Elite controller and the new Xbox One S controller. Unfortunately the increase in spending on Xbox One controllers was not enough to offset declines in gamepad spending from other systems and the category, as a whole, declined in spending by 10 percent.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.