Video Game Sales Dropped 25-Percent In US Last Month

According to NPD Group, video game sales dropped 25-percent in February, with sales declining across the board: games, hardware, and accessories. This is despite two games that were launched last month by Sega and EA, and is representative of consumers' shift from traditional gaming to mobile gaming via tablets and smartphones.

Hardware suffered the worst blow, decreasing 36-percent over last year, with a total of $244.2 million in sales. Software was next in line, falling 27-percent over last year to $369.9 million in sales; that represents sales for both gaming consoles and portable units. All in all, consumers are making about 50-percent of their overall game purchases via retail.

Overall, NPD Group says February video game sales came in at approximately $1.2 billion. While Sony and Nintendo tend to be tight-lipped over their console sales, Microsoft is more than happy to reveal its numbers. According to the company, it sold 302,000 Xbox 360 units, which represents a fairly significant drop over last year's sales of 426,000.

Microsoft is responsible for a significant amount of gaming console sales, according to a statement from the company earlier today, representing about 41-percent of all latest-generation consoles being purchased. Meanwhile, Sony's PlayStation 4 is slated for release this upcoming holiday season.

[via Bloomberg]