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Xbox One wins October: thanks, Halo 5

Brenna Hillier avatar
News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
Published on

Halo 5 predictably pushed the Xbox One to dominate the US market last month.

halo_5

If anything was going to break Sony's winning streak in the US, it was Halo 5: Guardians.

As expected, Master Chief's latest was the best-selling game of the month according to the NPD Group's charts, and the Xbox One outsold the PS4.

Microsoft reported an 81% year-on-year increase in Xbox One shipments, which is enormous. Looks like a lot of fans were holding out for Halo.

Hardware

Overall, console sales grew 3% - which is great, because it includes a 66% decline in last-generation sales. Looks like the new generation is holding its own against the drop-off now.

Once again, bundles drove much of the growth in console hardware sale, so expect more of those in the future.

Portable sales fell 27% year-on-year, which is more dramatic-seeming than it is; there were major portable sales in October 2014.

Software

Although Halo 5 was big business, it and Assassin's Creed: Syndicate weren't enough to drive software sales to year-on-year growth; new release sales decreases 4% year-on-year. (As ever, don't forget that this is physical only; Assassin's Creed: Syndicate topped the PlayStation Store charts last month.)

Here are the charts:

  1. Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One)
  2. NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
  3. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (PS4, Xbox One)
  4. Madden NFL 16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
  5. WWE 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
  6. FIFA 16 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
  7. Destiny: The Taken King (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
  8. Yoshi’s Wooly World (NWU)
  9. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4)
  10. Rock Band 4 (Xbox One, PS4)

General

Overall industry spend increased by 2% year-on-year to $805.9 million. This tiny blip may not seem like much, but as more and more game sales and spend switch to digital, any growth at all is a sign of excellent health.

The NPD credits the uptick to accessories, which grew 18% to $197 million; we can probably thank Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live for some of that, but the Xbox One Elite Controller triggered a 29% increase in controller sales. There was also a 38% increase in point and subscription card purchases.

Hardware was flat at $270.3 million, and software sales were actually down 3% at $337.7 million. But none of this is a concern, because digital likely more than makes up for any slow down in software, and hardware will pick up significantly over the holiday period.

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