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NPD: Software sales up for the first time since February

Modest sales increase fueled by 1.52 million copies Halo 3: ODST sold in the US

News by Frank Cifaldi Contributor
Published on

The NPD Group has released its software sales figures for the month of September 2009, revealing a modest 5 per cent revenue growth from the same period in 2008, the first sign of growth since February this year.

Software brought in USD 649.32 million of revenue between August 30 and October 3, 2009, up 5 per cent over the USD 617.57 million reported during the same period last year. The software leader by a significant margin was Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST, which sold an impressive 1.52 million units during its September US debut.

"Halo 3 certainly impacted the industry two years ago when it was launched, and this year, Halo 3: ODST realised impressive sales making it the 6th best-selling SKU launch of all time," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. By comparison, Halo 3 sold 3 million copies during its September, 2007 release.

Elsewhere on the charts, the music game category saw two major launches with competing titles The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5. While complete sales figures across all platforms were not available as of press time, commentary by Frazier revealed that the former came out on top.

"We know all eyes are going to be on the Rock Band and Guitar Hero sales since the music/dance genre has been so closely followed by many this year," said Frazier. "Both titles captured a spot in the top 10 for the month and at the item level, across all platforms, The Beatles: Rock Band came in third behind Halo 3: ODST and Madden NFL 10 while Guitar Hero 5 came in fourth."

Other debuts that charted in the top ten this month include the Xbox 360 version Activison's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 and Nintendo's Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story for the DS. Wii Sports Resort, Madden NFL 10 and Batman: Arkham Asylum, all of which were August debuts, round out the rest of the top ten, which is listed below.

  • 01. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, 360) - 1,520,000
  • 02. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii) - 442,900
  • 03. Madden NFL 10 (EA, 360) - 289,600
  • 04. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo, DS) - 258,100
  • 05. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, 360) - 254,000
  • 06. Madden NFL 10 (EA, PS3) - 246,500
  • 07. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Activision, 360) - 236,000
  • 08. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos, PS3) - 212,500
  • 09. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision, 360) - 210,800
  • 10. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, Wii) - 208,600