NPD December 2009: Sony says it was a "great year" for PS3

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson News Editor

Published on Jan. 14, 2010

In response to tonight's December NPD figures for 2009, Sony has claimed that it was a "great year for PS3", with the console seeing a double digit growth of 22 percent for the calender year with 4.3 million in total, compared to 3.8 million in 2008.

PS3 sold 1.35 million hardware units in December 2009 in the US, which represents an 87 percent increase yoy, with December marking the single highest selling month for PS3 hardware and software in the US.

PSP hardware also saw an increase of more than 122 percent from November to December 2009, with the PlayStation brand generating more than $5.1 billion in revenue in the US for 2009 - 26 percent share of the total video game industry revenue for 2009.

"It’s no surprise we’ve seen PS3 units sold every month nearly double since October," stated SCEA's Patrick Seybold. "We knew 2009 would be a turning point for the platform due to the new price and a content line up that is fueling unprecedented consumer and industry interest with games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

"The consumer response has simply been overwhelming and we anticipate the high demand for PS3 to continue into the coming months as we work closely with retail to meet the demand.

"The best part of PS3’s story today is that 2010 will offer entirely new gaming experiences to consumers as we launch MAG, God of War III, 3D gaming, and the new motion controller this year.

"It’s never been a better time to be a PS3 owner.”

On the software end, Modern Warfare 2 for PS3 was ranked in the top five software skus for December 2009 and topped PS3 software for the year, with a total of 2.8 million units sold to date, followed by Madden NFL 10 and Assassin’s Creed II for PS3.

Uncharted 2 surpassed 1 million units in the US, with more than 950k units reported by NPD in the U.S. since launch.

PlayStation Network did well too, as December 2009 also marked its single highest revenue month, jumping 155 percent yoy in the US with the highest bit of activity on the service being Christmas Day.

Final Fanatsy VIII took top honors as the most downloaded title for the month, and ncremental sales driven by add-on content such as the Call of Duty: World at War Map Packs, which took the top thre paid downloads for 2009.

2009 Top Ten Paid Downloads on PlayStation Network