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[Leonidas]

Compared to March 2017, consumers spent less on hardware last month — $331 million, down 32 percent from $485 million. But year to date, hardware-spending is at a high, generating $925 million so far in 2018. This was driven mainly by Microsoft’s Xbox One, though Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console in March and 2018. The Nintendo Switch 32GB with red and blue Joycon controllers was the best-selling hardware in March and 2018.

“Far Cry 5 debuts as the top-selling title of March 2018 and instantly becomes the best-selling title of 2018,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Far Cry 5 set a new launch month sales record for the Far Cry franchise...

“Sea of Thieves was the second best-selling game of March, and is the eighth best-selling game of 2018 year to date,” said Piscatella. “Sea of Thieves generated the highest launch month sales for any title produced by developer Rare since tracking by The NPD Group began in 1995.”

Source: venturebeat

Software March 2018

1. Far Cry 5
2. Sea Of Thieves
3. MLB 18: The Show
4. Kirby Star Allies*
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Call of Duty: WWII
7. Mario Kart 8*
8. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
9. NBA 2K18
10. Monster Hunter: World

*No digital sales included

 

[Geki-D]

"Though Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console in March and 2018. The Nintendo Switch 32GB with red and blue Joycon controllers was the best-selling hardware in March and 2018."

...What?

 

[LuvOfThaGame]

Congratulations to Rare. Salt incoming.

 

[Norse]

I never would have guessed Sea of thieves would have done that well.

 

[Norse]

So, switch isn't considered a console?

 

[Imtjnotu]

So ps4 was the best selling. But the switch was best selling.... Da fuq?

 

[Xiaoki]

So ps4 was the best selling. But the switch was best selling.... Da fuq?

PS4, PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro

 

[Imtjnotu]

PS4, PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro

Got it. Saw this on gamespot and it made more sense

"So, it's something like Neon Switch > PS4 Slim > PS4 Pro > Gray Switch, but PS4 + PS4 Pro > Neon Switch + Gray Switch"

 

[iconmaster]

Congrats to Rare -- those are retail sales, no Game Pass included. I'm glad because Sea of Thieves is a refreshing vision for what video games can be.

Also congrats to Kirby Star Allies I guess? The demo was fairly uninspiring, but maybe the full game is better.

 

[Fulcizombie]

Seems the Xbox one x is doing fine since even though the Xbox one is n.3 in units,and with the s being quite cheap, it is n.1 in revenue. Cool, I hope ms gets the message of what the Xbox brand has always represented and never makes another Xbox one ever again. Other than that good for rare I guess , though I don’t care for SOT but , at least, it kills the narrative of ms not having any exclusives since sales numbers legitimize a game. I think that state of decay 2 will surprise a lot of people with its numbers. Next month, god of war month.

 

[MDSLKTR]

I'm happy ni no kuni charted.

 

[Dibils2k]

is it weird that i am still shocked GTA5 is up there...

 

[CloudStrife_ca]

is it weird that i am still shocked GTA5 is up there...

Yea who doesn't already have that. Good to see Far Cry 5 did well, I've enjoyed it so far. I will pick up Sea of Thieves at some point.

 

[JaffeLion]

Damn... Sea of Thieves way better than Gaf made me believe. lol

 

[Codes 208]

Damn... Sea of Thieves way better than Gaf made me believe. lol

Sales =/= quality
After the game's short honeymoon period it became clear it was a giant empty sandbox of a game. Albeit beautiful, for a game that been known in development for about 3 years, it couldve been so much better but as it stands it lacks even less content than vanilla destiny

 

[zeorhymer]

"Though Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console in March and 2018. The Nintendo Switch 32GB with red and blue Joycon controllers was the best-selling hardware in March and 2018."

...What?

I wonder if they don't consider the Switch a "console"?

 

[Grinchy]

These NPD nuggets we get these days sure are vague and lame.

 

[STEaMkb]

nm

 

[Vawn]

"So, it's something like Neon Switch > PS4 Slim > PS4 Pro > Gray Switch, but PS4 + PS4 Pro > Neon Switch + Gray Switch"

They're making it complicated enough so all three can claim victory each month.

 

[SaintJonathan]

"Though Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console in March and 2018. The Nintendo Switch 32GB with red and blue Joycon controllers was the best-selling hardware in March and 2018."

...What?

I think what they are trying to say is that PS4 is the best selling console of 2018 so far, and best selling console of any March since release, but the Switch is best selling console of March 2018? It's worded very weird.

 

[Geki-D]

I wonder if they don't consider the Switch a "console"?

Portable then, I guess.

 

[Vawn]

Portable then, I guess.

They do consider it a console. It's saying PS4 out sold it overall, but that specific model of Switch out sold both the standard PS4 and the PS4 Pro individually.

I don't know why they feel the need to break it down like that.

 

[AgentP]

Beside FC5, nothing else sold big numbers in March. SoT is #8 for 2018 and The Show 2018 is #9. Beside FC5 and Monster Hunter at the top, the rest are 2017 games. So if anyone thinks SoT sold millions of copies, be prepared to be disappointed. Maybe 1-2m on two platforms, probably closer to 1m than 2m. And it was front loaded, it's not selling in April. Lifetime sales are going to disappoint MS after four years of development.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Sales =/= quality
After the game's short honeymoon period it became clear it was a giant empty sandbox of a game. Albeit beautiful, for a game that been known in development for about 3 years, it could've been so much better but as it stands it lacks even less content than vanilla destiny

His original statement is right though, from what people were saying around here, due to sea of thieves going on game pass, and the lack of content, it wouldn't sell that well.

Interesting that it charted so high, SOT will definitely be a success in Microsoft's book and great to see Rare succeed that way for their first proper game in a while. Wonder how much a success gamepass was

 

[cryptoadam]

Numbers I saw elsewhere showed PS4 with about a 50K lead on Switch and Xbox.

Off memory it was someting like 350 for PS4, 308 for Switch and 298 for Xbox. Again going of memory so don't dog pile me on my math. Numbers are rounded and estimates.

And I am be off on 50K and it might actually be 20K, If I am mixing them up. Either way kind a close month and all 3 are pretty much performing equally at this time.

 

[bitbydeath]

^^^

I saw it as

PS4: 354K
NS: 308K
XBO: 299K

No idea on accuracy.

 

[cryptoadam]

^^^

I saw it as



No idea on accuracy.

Yup thats what I saw.

XBOX and switch its statistical noise the difference. PS4 managed to have a decent but not overwhelming lead on both.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

lol GTA 5 is still up there.

 

[SidViscous]

GTA V is a complete phenomenon, would love to know how much they are making from all the shark cards. I expect their business models on future games will shift from the single player story to the multiplayer modes.

Sea of thieves numbers are a surprise considering the backlash, wonder if it'll drop off a cliff next month or if at this point Xbox gamers are so starved for an exclusive they'll pay full RRP for what most have described as an early access title. Feels like rares content roadmap is a lot of special events rather than adding new much needed depth. Either way it shows the demand is there which bodes well for crackdown.

Switch pulling impressive numbers as always.

 

[Gavon West]

I like how Xbox gamers are just starved for content - that's why SoT is selling well. Maybe, just maybe armchair analyst/developers don't know squat about how the industry works in reality, and their opinions have zero effect on the larger gaming community outside of a bubble?

Just a guess...

 

[AgentP]

Sea of thieves numbers are a surprise

What numbers?

 

[rokkerkory]

SoT wow... big freakin congrats!!

 

[Codes 208]

Beside FC5, nothing else sold big numbers in March. SoT is #8 for 2018 and The Show 2018 is #9. Beside FC5 and Monster Hunter at the top, the rest are 2017 games. So if anyone thinks SoT sold millions of copies, be prepared to be disappointed. Maybe 1-2m on two platforms, probably closer to 1m than 2m. And it was front loaded, it's not selling in April. Lifetime sales are going to disappoint MS after four years of development.

More like 1.5 platforms. I think people are overestimating how many actually play on windows Xbox. as far as Im concerned Play anywhere means nothing in terms of truly expanding the brand name due to it be a shitty store with a ghost town of a population.

But that aside, I dont think SoT sold amazingly well either. I have a hunch GoW sold more in it's first day or two than SoT sold in its first two weeks.

 

[TLZ]

Congratulations to Rare. Salt incoming.

Nah. Not taking any credit away from it, but I believe it's more Xbox gamers starving for exclusives that pushed it more. And I'm in the same boat. I want these exclusives, so bad.

 

[Tenderfood]

GTA is doing things for this industry that blow my mind to this day. Just when the sales start to lag they spike up again a few months later.

 

[Leonidas]

Xbox was not no.1 in revenue. It simply showed more revenue growth. i.e. Xbox performed better in March 2018 than it did in March 2017. Read the press release carefully. Nowhere does it say that Xbox came first in revenue. A $500 console will do that.

The reason why consumers spent less on hardware last month overall, compared to last year, is because this Nintedo Switch had just launched with high opening numbers.

The NPD Group is good at finding something positive to say about all 3 consoles these days, even if it leads to confusion. The harsh reality is that Xbox has not topped a single NPD result since 2016.

The fact is that Xbox is doing a lot better this year than it did last year. Xbox has done really well since the launch of the X and the month the X launched Xbox had the highest revenue. Great showing since the launch of X considering where they were.



PS4 sales this year are similar to last year. Xbox sales have improved notably since the launch of the X.

 

[Yagami_Sama]

I was not expecting Sea of Thieves in second. Good for Rare.

 

[octiny]

Good to see all MS's hard work paying off.....year-year sales have increased tremendously at a consistent rate since the X. Also, great to see SOT at #2 even when it's on gamepass.

 

[Norse]

Only 40 or so replies in a npd sales thread on gaf!? Wow, the population of gaf has to be tiny compared to what it once was.

 

[Havoc2049]

More like 1.5 platforms. I think people are overestimating how many actually play on windows Xbox. as far as Im concerned Play anywhere means nothing in terms of truly expanding the brand name due to it be a shitty store with a ghost town of a population.

But that aside, I dont think SoT sold amazingly well either. I have a hunch GoW sold more in it's first day or two than SoT sold in its first two weeks.

I'm an avid SoT player and ratio of PC players seems quite high. It seems like there is usually a PC player or two when I randomly sail on a 4-player galleon. I've been on a few galleons where I'm the only XB1 player. In my gaming community, there are several of us that play on both XB1 and PC (usually gaming laptops for the portability). As a long time Xbox owner, there has always been a large portion of the community that games on both the Xbox and PC platform. The convenience of being able to play SoT at two locations in the house instead of one, along with other play anywhere titles on either the XB1 or PC/laptop is really nice.

 

[Allandor]

"Though Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console in March and 2018. The Nintendo Switch 32GB with red and blue Joycon controllers was the best-selling hardware in March and 2018."

...What?

^^ I know what you mean.
I guess, PS4 & PS4 Pro and all special editions together is the best selling console, while Nintendo Switch 32 with red and blue is so specific that this was the top selling package overall.
What is interesting though that hardware sales are down, but xbox was better than last year (well, everyone was waiting for the X which lowered the sales last year)

So if I read that correctly, march was still a very healthy month for consoles.

 

[Codes 208]

I'm an avid SoT player and ratio of PC players seems quite high. It seems like there is usually a PC player or two when I randomly sail on a 4-player galleon. I've been on a few galleons where I'm the only XB1 player. In my gaming community, there are several of us that play on both XB1 and PC (usually gaming laptops for the portability). As a long time Xbox owner, there has always been a large portion of the community that games on both the Xbox and PC platform. The convenience of being able to play SoT at two locations in the house instead of one, along with other play anywhere titles on either the XB1 or PC/laptop is really nice.

Fair point but perhaps every game is different. in gears 4, even as of late, for every 10-15 players ive seen online generally only one or two of them were playing on pc. Even when i played on pc running into other other pc players felt like a rare occurance.

^^ I know what you mean.
I guess, PS4 & PS4 Pro and all special editions together is the best selling console, while Nintendo Switch 32 with red and blue is so specific that this was the top selling package overall.
What is interesting though that hardware sales are down, but xbox was better than last year (well, everyone was waiting for the X which lowered the sales last year)

So if I read that correctly, march was still a very healthy month for consoles.

Its pretty simple imo. Its saying that the r/b switch was overall the top selling SKU but ps4 was overall the best selling platform through various bundles/editions

 

[VectorVictor]

Good to see all MS's hard work paying off.....year-year sales have increased tremendously at a consistent rate since the X. Also, great to see SOT at #2 even when it's on gamepass.

Yeah...that's shocking, to be honest. Didn't expect to see Sea of Thieves to chart so high. I just wonder if the game has legs--it's going to take a hit from God of War and MLB The Show, but as long as it's still on the Top 10, that would be progress, yes?

 

[mckmas8808]

^^^

I saw it as



No idea on accuracy.

Thanks for the numbers. I wish we could get a few more.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Yea who doesn't already have that.

I suppose every month, there are new kids that just had a birthday and their parents finally decide they're old enough to have GTA in the house o.0

 

[Grinchy]

Only 40 or so replies in a npd sales thread on gaf!? Wow, the population of gaf has to be tiny compared to what it once was.

They slowed down after the data stopped coming in anyway. There's really not a lot to talk about when the leaked info is so vague and worthless.

 

[thelastword]

Sale estimates based on an early April Report/Leak.

PS4 : 326k
Switch : 171k
X1 : 134k
3DS : 70k



Relative sales volume of game hardware

PS4: 1.92
Switch: 1
XBox One: 0.79
3DS: 0.41​

YoY

PS4: +58%
Switch: -39%
XBox One: +20%
3DS: -3%​

On the software side (digital not included)

Top sellers were God of War, Far Cry 5, Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

 

[mckmas8808]

GoW a system seller! I wonder if it sold over 1 million games in April in this NPD.

 

[hiphopcr]

Yea who doesn't already have that. (GTA5)

I'm still holding out for it to come to Game Pass..

 

[thelastword]

GoW a system seller! I wonder if it sold over 1 million games in April in this NPD.

Not only did it sell well in April, but some tidbits indicate that it has the legs of the gods in the month of May as well. It's also said that GOW is pushing quite a few PROS, which I think I spoke about in some other thread on GOW launch day...though it was anecdotal at the time, but an analyst did give that bit of morsel to confirm. So yes, it's pushing systems, especially PRO's.