February 2017 NPD: For Honor and Resident Evil 7 top another month of lower revenues for game industry

Swords and zombies did well last month.

The gaming industry generated $724 million in revenues in the United States last month, according to data-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s down 21 percent year-over-year from $918.7 million. All segments — hardware, console and PC software, and accessories — were down compared to the same period in 2016.

But it’s revenues from console hardware that is falling the hardest.

February 2017 results

NPD tracks data from physical retailers and digital sales from certain online stores and publishers in the U.S. You will get data from third-parties on the Xbox Game Store or the PlayStation store, but there’s nothing from Blizzard’s Battle.net. So the following NPD data is only a snapshot of a larger and more dynamic market.

• Hardware: $204 million (down 30 percent from $292.2 million in February 2016)

• Console software: $344.2 million (down 14 percent from $402 million)

• PC software: $25 million (down 26 percent from $33.6 million)

• Accessories: $150.8 million (down 21 percent from $191 million)

“Total hardware spending in February declined 30 percent versus February 2016 to $204 million,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said in a statement. “Console hardware accounted for 82 percent of the total declines as both average retail pricing and units sold fell versus year ago.”

But software didn’t do much better in large part because For Honor, Nioh, and Halo Wars 2 were the only major releases. Let’s get to the full software chart.

Software

1. For Honor

2. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

3. Grand Theft Auto V

4. NBA 2K17

5. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

6. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

7. Madden NFL 17

8. Battlefield 1

9. Nioh*

10. Overwatch**

*No digital sales
*No Battle.net digital sales

This list includes physical sales at U.S. retailers and digital sales through certain platforms like Steam and the Xbox or PlayStation downloadable game stores. It does not, however, include microtransactions or downloadable-content add-ons.

“Ubisoft’s For Honor was the best-selling game of February 2017 despite having only 12 days in market during the month,” said Piscatella. “And two new releases debut in the month’s Top 10: Ubisoft’s For Honor and the PS4 exclusive Nioh, developed by Team Ninja.”

Halo Wars 2 did not make it into the top 10 overall. It was No. 6 best-selling game on the Xbox One in February, but that does not include any digital sales because Microsoft does not report that data to the NPD.

Beyond the new releases, however, games like Rainbow Six: Siege and Overwatch continue to land on the list alongside perennial favorites like Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K17, Call of Duty, and Madden. Siege’s surge comes likely as a result of its growing competitive scene and its popularity on streaming sites like Twitch.

Here’s a look at the top 10 best-selling games by platform:

Xbox One

1. For Honor

2. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

3. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

4. Grand Theft Auto V

5. NBA 2K17

6. Halo Wars 2*

7. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

8. Battlefield 1

9. Madden NFL 17

10. Overwatch**

PlayStation 4

1. For Honor

2. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

3. Grand Theft Auto V

4. Nioh*

5. NBA 2K17

6. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

7. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

8. Battlefield 1

9. Madden NFL 17

10. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

Wii U

1. Super Smash Bros.

2. Paper Mario: Color Splash

3. Minecraft

4. Yoshi’s Wooly World

5. Super Mario Maker

6. Pokken Tournament

7. New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U

8. Splatoon

9. Super Mario 3D World

10. Mario Kart 8

Portables

1. Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World

2. Pokémon Sun

3. Pokémon Moon

4. Super Mario Maker

5. Super Smash Bros.

6. Mario Kart 7

7. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

8. Pokémon Omega Ruby

9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

10. Mario Party: Star Rush

Hardware

PlayStation 4 was the top-selling system, but console sales continue to fall as Microsoft and Sony have saturated much of their potential market. It’s likely that some consumers are saving their hardware dollars for the Nintendo Switch that launched in March.

“The PlayStation 4 was the top-selling hardware system in the month,” said Piscatella. “And for the fifth month running, the PlayStation 4 Slim System 500GB Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Bundle was the month’s top selling console.”

Finally, Nintendo’s dedicated handheld saw a month-over-month bump thanks to the introduction of pair of new New 3DSes, which is how you have to write that term.

“In the portable space, 3DS unit sales were up 77 percent versus January 2017 driven by the 3DS New Galaxy Style model and the 3DS Limited Pikachu Yellow model,” said Piscatella.

Next month, we’ll get a look at how the Switch shakes all of this up and how it stacks up to other console launches.