NetherRealm Studios' DC Comics-based fighter Injustice: Gods Among Us ranked as the top-selling game for a second consecutive month in May, as the gaming industry faced steep declines in retail sales, according to new data from the NPD Group.
Sales of new gaming hardware, software, and accessories topped $386.3 million last month, down from $517 million a year earlier. But sales of new, physical gaming merchandise typically only account for half of consumer spending on games each month, according to NPD Group's Liam Callahan. The firm estimates that used and rental sales brought in $91 million while digital format sales totaled $339 million, bringing total U.S. video game sales to around $787 million in May.
Hardware sales took a major hit during the month, dropping 31 percent to 96 million from 139 million a year ago. The Nintendo 3DS had the best year-over-year performance across all hardware models, with unit sales essentially remaining flat from last May.
"Nintendo's 3DS edged out the 360 as the top selling platform across hardware and portables," Callahan said. "However, the 360 was the top selling console hardware platform this month for the twenty-ninth consecutive month."
Meanwhile, sales of new software also dropped 31 percent to $175.1 million, down from $255.4 million last year. The drop largely stemmed from a decline in the number of new launches, as well as poor performance of the titles that were released.
"Overall new launch performance in May '13 was poor, down 84 percent in units, decreasing 88 percent in dollars, which was driven by PCs and Consoles as new launches for portables were up 5 percent in units, and down only 7 percent in dollars," Callahan said.
Accessory sales fared a little better, totaling $115.3 million last month, down 6 percent from a year earlier. In fact, this was the best May for point and subscription card sales on record.
Now, without further ado, the top 10 games of May were:
1. Injustice: Gods Among Us
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns
4. Dead Island: Riptide
6. Metro: Last Light
7. NBA 2K13
9. Battlefield 3
10. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes