GTA IV leads $536.9 million May US software sales
GTA IV is May's best-selling US title, but doesn't increase hardware sales as PS3 outsells Xbox 360 behind the Wii
Grand Theft Auto IV was the best-selling videogame in the US for the month of May, according to data released by the NPD Group.
The Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's game topped the sales chart with over 871,000 copies sold; The PS3 version sold nearly 443,000 copies to take fourth place.
According to the NPD Group, combined sales of GTA IV have reached 4.2 million units - making it the top-selling title of the year so far.
Guitar Hero III, with 2.5 million units sold, and Rock Band, with 1.3 million units sold year to date, are both in the top ten best-selling games for 2008.
The US games industry has generated USD 6.6 billion in sales for the first five months of 2008, exceeding the total annual revenues for 1997 and putting it on pace to achieve yearly revenues in the range of USD 21 - 23 billion.
The Nintendo Wii and DS captured the top spots for hardware sales for the fourth consecutive month, selling 675,100 and 452,600 units, respectively.
Sony sold 182,300 PSP handhelds and 208,700 PlayStation 3 consoles in May, with Microsoft selling 186,600 Xbox 360 consoles.
"The continued success of GTA IV is not translating into big hardware sales for either the PS3 or the 360 but there may yet to be a lift in June due to gift-giving for Father's Day and Graduations," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
The Top Ten best-selling titles in the US during month of May were:
- 1 Grand Theft Auto IV (360) - 871,300
- 2 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400
- 3 Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700
- 4 Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900
- 5 Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600
- 6 Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) - 171,100
- 7 Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600
- 8 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 116,800
- 9 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 107,000
- 10 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 102,000