NPD Group Reports Huge Console Sales For September

Yesterday, the NPD Group revealed some first sales numbers for September, indicating that [...]

By ComicBook.com Staff

Yesterday, the NPD Group revealed some first sales numbers for September, indicating that Marvel's Spider-Man had a thrilling debut month, already becoming the third best-selling game of 2018. Within a month. Not only that, but NBA 2K19 performed admirably well also.

But now we've dug in and found even more sales numbers from their report, which you can see above. It looks like the sales market is ramping up for consoles, and shows no signs of slowing as we go into the holiday season.

The total sales for the month reached $1.376 billion overall, a seven percent increase from last year's $1.285 million figure. Out of that, $306 million went towards hardware, while $747 million was based upon PC and console sales. That leaves accessories, which saw a 43 percent increase to 323 million. Spending for the year has already reached a whopping $8.9 billion, and that's even before the build-up into the holiday season.

While hardware spending did drop a slight bit compared to last year, both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One saw increases in sales, with "significant gains," according to the report. (No word on Nintendo Switch, though it appears to be doing well.)

There's also been a notable growth with "plug and play" systems like the NES and SNES Classic, increasing 18 percent to $2.4 billion overall this year. And with the PlayStation Classic entering the fray, this number is very likely to climb.

As for the console that won the month, though, it was all PlayStation 4, thanks to Spider-Man's immense popularity. It "achieved the highest September unit sell-through for a non plug-n-play console since the PS4 in 2014," according to the report. And it's become the most popular platform this year to date, though there's still time for Nintendo Switch to possibly take the lead.

As for Xbox One, sales are increasing over last year's numbers, but it appears that a new model has taken the lead, with the Xbox One X selling the most. And considering that a few retailers are about to launch a promotion for the system alongside Red Dead Redemption 2 this week (knocking $100 off its price), that's likely to continue to soar.

And now begins the holiday season, which will be the true test when it comes to seeing who will have the best sales. Sony will obviously continue its dominance, powered by games like Spider-Man and God of War; but Nintendo isn't far behind, ready to ride the hype train with Diablo III: Eternal Collection, Super Mario Party and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; and Microsoft has a plan of its own, backed by its Xbox Game Pass program, Forza Horizon 4 and its tie-in with popular third-party games like Battlefield V and Fallout 76.

Let's see where the sales go from here!

(Thanks to the NPD Group for the numbers!)

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