Darksiders 2 Tops NPD’s August 2012 US Sales Charts

The NPD Group announced their August 2012 US retail sales report last night, revealing that THQ’s Darksiders 2 was the best-selling software title for the month, with 247,000 units sold across the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Software sales were one of the few bright spots in NPD’s report, with total new retail sales (including PC retail software) coming in at $252.8 million, an 11% drop year-over-year. Narrowing the focus to the “high definition platforms” reveals that software sales actually stabilized, and only fell 1% when compared to August 2011.

Accessory sales for August 2012 saw the smallest percentage decline, with total sales dropping 7% to $127.3 million. Point cards and other retail methods of purchasing digital content continued to drive this segment, along with the help of Activision’s Skylander character packs.

Despite the not-so-horrible news in the new retail software and accessory sectors, hardware sales declined a whopping 39% (to $150.6 million) in August 2012, driving overall video game industry sales down to $515.6 million, a 20% drop year-over-year.

The Xbox 360 lead the declining hardware sector with 190,000 units sold (a decline of 37%), according to Major Nelson. While all systems saw a year-over-year decline in sales, both the 3DS and PS3 actually saw increases over their total sales in July 2012. Additionally, the 3DS XL had a successful launch and accounted for 44% of total 3DS sales, despite only being on sale for 7 days during the reporting period.

Exact hardware sales data for the Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3, and PS Vita were not made public as of the time of publication.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier commented on the state of the hardware sector. saying:

“The current hardware systems are showing their age, so it goes without saying that it would be great to have new systems breathe life into traditional retail industry sales. I am anxious to learn more about the Wii U launch later this month. And with any luck we will hear news about other systems on the horizon.”

During August 2012 the top 10 new retail software sales were as follows:

1. Darksiders 2 (360, PS3, PC) – 247,000
2. New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS) – 240,000
3. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS) – 180,000
4. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
5. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
6. Sleeping Dogs (360, PS3)
7. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360, PS3) – 105,000
8. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)
10. The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3, NDS, 3DS, Wii)

Source: NeoGAF, GamesIndustry