The good news? Diablo III was the number one best selling retail game in the US in May 2012. That's according to data released today by the NPD Group and reported by Gamesindustry.biz. It's very rare that a PC exclusive game reaches the top 10 on NPD's list, much less the number one spot.
The bad news? Overall US retail game sales (combining hardware, software and accessories) generated just $516.5 million in revenue in May, down a whopping 28 percent compared to a year ago. This is the fifth straight month that retail game sales have experienced double digit downturns in terms of sales percentages.
NPD does says that when you take into account other revenues, such as used game sales, digital download game purchased, subscriptions and microtransactions, the revenue numbers might go up to about $1.17 billion. Max Payne 3 was the second best selling retail game in May, followed by Ghost Recon Future Solider, Prototype 2 and NBA 2K12.
Microsoft said in a blog post that it sold 160,000 Xbox 360 units in May in the US, making it the top selling game console for the 17th straight month. In its own statement, Sony said that " ... exclusive PlayStation 3 titles again posted strong results with MLB12: The Show and Starhawk." It did not reveal specific sales numbers.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
