Despite the releases of a tremendous amount of highly anticipated software for the month of May in the form of Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Alan Wake and UFC Undisputed 2010, revenues in the US videogame industry were down 5% as compared to the same period last year, falling to $823.5 million.

This is largely due to a decline in hardware sales, with revenues dropping to $241.5 million, which represents a 20% year-over-year decline. While accessory sales were up 3 percent, to $115.7 million, the collection of games mentioned above could only help software sales climb a measly 4 percent from May last year, up to $466.3 million.

With the contribution of May’s sales performance, the videogame industry in the US has generated $5.56 billion year-to-date – 10 percent down compared to the same period in 2009, as hardware falls 20 percent and software drops by 6 percent.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier seemed to be determined to look for the good in the bad, noting that sales for May 2010 represent the third best-selling May on record, after May of 2008 and May of 2009.

Frazier also mentioned that for May 2010, the Xbox 360 and related software “contributed the greatest share of revenue to industry sales for the month, and year-to-date,” while the PlayStation 3 has enjoyed the best sales improvements, year-to-date.

Software Sales

Red Dead Redemption was the big winner for US software sales in May, collectively selling just over 1.5 million units across Xbox 360 and PS3, more than half of which came from sales on Microsoft’s console.

For a platform-exclusive title, Super Mario Galaxy 2 faired well against this giant, selling over 500 000 units, while UFC Undisputed 2010 performed quite poorly, with combined sales of a little over 400 000 copies over Xbox 360 and PS3.

The biggest sales disappointment (as far as the ‘quality to sales’ ratio is concerned) for May in the US would be Alan Wake. While NPD only releases sales figures for the top five games in the chart, Alan Wake placed in eighth. Considering that fifth place on the list only sold 192 000 units, Alan Wake’s opening month, sales-wise, doesn’t seem too rosy.

Hardware

As mentioned, hardware dragged May’s sales results down, as Nintendo’s stalwarts, the DS and Wii, still chugged along at first and second in the sales listing respectively, followed by the Xbox 360, PS3 and PSP, making for an unchanged lineup from April this year. Only the Wii and Xbox 360 improved in sales from last month.

NPD’s Frazier comments:

“The portable hardware category contributed the most to the decline in hardware sales for the month, yet the NDS is the best-selling hardware system for May,” said Frazier. “Console hardware unit sales are, in fact, flat to last year. Declines in sales result from a lower average selling price this year compared to last.”

This is what the US videogame market looks like in numbers:

Top Ten Software Sales for May 2010

• 1.) Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego/Take-Two, Xbox 360) – 945 900
• 2.) Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego/Take-Two, PS3) – 567 100
• 3.) Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo, Wii) – 563 900
• 4.) UFC 2010: Undisputed (Yuke’s/THQ, Xbox 360) – 221 100
• 5.) UFC 2010: Undisputed (Yuke’s/THQ, PS3) – 192 300
• 6.) Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii)
• 7.) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Wii)
• 8.) Alan Wake (Remedy/Microsoft, Xbox 360)
• 9.) Pokemon SoulSilver Version (Game Freak/Nintendo, NDS)
• 10.) Skate 3 (EA Canada/Electronic Arts, Xbox 360)

Other games released in may, including ModNation Racers, Lost Planet 2, Split/Second, Blur and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, all failed to crack the top ten list.

(Note: NPD will from now on only release sales figures for the top five games in the monthly sales chart.)

Hardware Sales for May 2010

• 1.) Nintendo DS – 383 700
• 2.) Wii – 334 800
• 3.) Xbox 360 – 194 600
• 4.) PlayStation 3 – 154 500
• 5.) PSP – 59 400

(Note: NPD will from now on no longer report monthly sales of the PS2.)

US Videogame Industry Totals for May 2010

(Category, followed by the total and the year-to-date change in brackets.)

• Videogames - $823.5 million (- 10%)
• Videogame hardware - $241.5 million (-20%)
• Videogame software - $466.3 million (+4%)
• Videogame accessories - $115.7 million (+3%)

You can find April 2010’s NPD results over here.

Source: NPD