PS4 bests Xbox One again in April NPD

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 saw continued momentum in April, with Sony once again besting Microsoft in next-gen sales.  According to the recently released NPD data, the PS4 was the top-selling console overall.  It’s the fourth month in a row that Sony has outperformed Microsoft in North America.

Both consoles are off to a quick start.  The Xbox One and PS4 total sales are more than double what they were last-gen at the same point in the generation.  According to an NPD Analyst, ” Life to date, sales of the PS4 and Xbox One hardware have more than doubled the combined sales of PS3 and 360 hardware through their first six months of sales,” said Liam Callahan.

On the software side, sales were down at retailers.  The report claims that retail software sales were down 10%.  It’s worth noting that NPD does not account for consumer purchases made via digital distribution, used game sales, and other ways that consumers buy video games.  Digital delivery is on the rise.  Looking at recent earnings from EA and Activision, it’s clear that gamers are starting to purchase more games digitally.  New consoles are making it easier and easier to purchase games at the click of a button.

With NPD not accounting for digital, the decline could be much slimmer.  Titanfall, Call of Duty: Ghosts, NBA 2K14, Minecraft, and LEGO: The Hobbit dominated the charts in terms of sales.

Microsoft echoed the NPD highlights on the Xbox Wire.

Digging a little deeper into their numbers, Microsoft says that the Xbox One has sold an average of three games per console.  In April, across both the Xbox One and Xbox 360, Microsoft sold the most games with 2.6 million sold.  The Xbox One and Xbox 360 combined to hold eight of the top ten spots in the software sales data.    They also revealed that they sold 115,000 Xbox Ones in the U.S. for the month.

Sony’s continued dominance in North America with the PlayStation 4 has spilled over into software as well.  Sony claims that inFamous: Second Son was the top selling next-gen game in April.  A statement from Guy Longworth still holds to the “over 7 million” number.

The back half of the year is going to get interesting, as usual.  Microsoft price cut of the Xbox One will take affect in June, so NPD data in July will be telling as to how many held out for the new console without the Kinect.