Retail game sales in the US took a big hit in August, according to new data from the NPD Group organization. IndustryGamers.com reports that overall sales came in at $669.9 million, a big 23 percent drop from the same period a year ago. Software sales took the biggest hit last month with revenues of $264.8 million, down 34 percent from August 2010. Hardware revenues cam in at $249.4 million, down 12 percent from a year ago. Accessories were down just 1 percent in August with revenues of $134.7 million.
The number one best selling game in August was the well reviewed sci-fi action-RPG Deus Ex: Human Revolution from publisher Square Enix. Electronic Arts"s perennial best selling sports game NCAA Football 12 came in at number two for the month, in part because its normal best selling game Madden NFL 12 was released on August 30, well after its normal release window earlier in August. Activision"s Call of Duty Black Ops, released back in November 2010, is still selling well. It came in at the number three position for August.
Overall, retail game sales are down 5 percent so far in 2011 but that could change. According to NPD Group"s Anita Frazier, "... more than half of industry sales in this channel are still to be realized in the back four months of the year. Given the strong release schedule in the coming months, new physical retail sales could still be flat to slightly up once full year sales are tallied." Highly anticipated games such as Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim and others are due for release in the next nine weeks.