US gaming sales plummet according to NPD
Big drop for hardware numbers in July
The latest NPD data has been released stateside, the stats agency noting that in July US gaming business continued to plummet, as it has over the course of the summer.
Total US business was down a staggering 29 percent to 848 million USD, versus the 1.19 billion USD hit in July of 2008.
While software sales lost 26 percent, the biggest hit came on the hardware front, console sales dropping a mammoth 37 percent, down to 437 million USD from 592 million USD.
"The U.S. video games industry declined for the fifth consecutive month, bringing year-to-date sales to $8.16 billion, down 14 percent from the same time period last year," NPD analyst Anita Frazier offers.
"In order for the industry to come in flat or slightly up for the total year, the back five months of the year have to come in 11 percent (or more) higher than the last five months of last year.
"While year-to-date results are weak, there are some big titles set to be released over the next several months, including Madden this month, which should help spur sales. The worst comps should be behind us, and looking beyond August we have The Beatles: Rock Band, Halo 3: ODST, and of course, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to look forward to."
So, things are looking up... but not quite yet.
