Sales tracking and market research firm NPD recently released sales data for the US videogame industry for the month of December, while also revealing interesting statistics on the state of the market over 2010 as compared to 2009.

Total sales for the US videogame industry during the month of December 2010, (which includes hardware, software and accessories) came to $5.06 billion, down 9% compared to December 2009 when sales reached $5.55 billion.

When looking at full year sales for 2010 (and include monetisation methods such as new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile game apps), the videogame industry generated between $15.4 and $15.6 billion in 2010, which represents 1% drop compared to 2009’s full year sales.

According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, however, if look at the industry from a different angle, another picture forms:

“Sales of new physical video game hardware, software & accessories ended 2010 at $18.6B, a 6% decrease from 2009,” writes Frazier. “If we include PC game sales, which enjoyed an increase of 3% versus ‘09, sales hit $19.3B, down 5% from ‘09. Aside from PC games, accessory sales were up over 13% due to an increase in the average retail price of accessory items of 20%.”

Frazier’s outlook for 2011 and the videogame industry in the US is bright, though:

“The dynamics of games content purchasing changed dramatically in 2010 with options ranging from the physical product to digital downloads on connected devices as well as in-store digital kiosks,” Frazier pointed out in a press release.

“The increasing number of ways to acquire the content has allowed the industry to maintain total consumer spend on content as compared to 2009, and we should expect 2011 to be a growth year in the games industry as the consumer demand for gaming continues to evolve.”

December 2010 Software Sales

Call of Duty: Black Ops was far and away the best-selling game of December 2010 in the US with over 3.6 million units sold for the month, followed by Just Dance 2, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Donkey Kong: Country Returns.

A surprise performer on the chart is Disney Epic Mickey, with 1.32 million units sold for the month of December! Not making the Top Ten but still in the hunt was Gran Turismo 5 with 560 500 units sold in the US during December.

Interestingly, sales of PC games were up by 62% in December thanks to the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, with help from StarCraft II no doubt. Additionally, Kinect Sports and Dance Central have managed to rack up units sales in excess of 1 million apiece as of the end of December.

December 2010 Software Sales Chart

• 1.) Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard – over 3.6 million units sold)
• 2.) Just Dance 2 (Wii) Ubisoft
• 3.) World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (PC) Activision Blizzard - 1.5 Million units sold
• 4.) Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (360, PS3) Ubisoft
• 5.) Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) Nintendo
• 6.) Disney Epic Mickey (Wii) Disney Interactive Studios - 1.32 Million units sold
• 7.) Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) EA
• 8.) Michael Jackson The Experience (Wii, NDS, PSP) Ubisoft
• 9.) NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC) Take 2 Interactive
• 10.) Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (360, PS3, Wii, PC) EA - 906.4K units sold

December 2010 Hardware Sales

As usual, the hardware market segment in the videogame industry was dominated by the Nintendo DS, with 2.5 million units sold for the month of December, but unlike previous months the Wii has managed to regain its place as the second-best selling console in the region.

That doesn’t mean that past chart hero, the Xbox 360, was underperforming! December 2010 was the best sales month for the console ever, and was the only machine to enjoy a year-over-year units sales increase over December 2009.

The DS, meanwhile, managed to surpass the install based of the PlayStation 2 in the US this month with over 47 million units sold in the country, year-to-date.

December 2010 Hardware Sales Chart

• Nintendo DS - 2.5 Million (-24%)
• Wii - 2.36 Million (-38%)
• Xbox 360 - 1.86 Million (+42%)
• PS3 - 1.21 Million (-11%)

December 2010 Accessories Sales

According to Anita Frazier, December was the biggest month for videogame accessory sales ever “due to a hefty increase in the average retail price driven by specialty controllers.”

“The Kinect was the best-selling accessory item for the second month in a row, following its release in early November,” Frazier continued. “For both the month of December and for the whole year, Point & Subscription cards grew the most in unit volume vs. 2009. This is a retail reflection of the growing importance of digitally delivered gaming content.”

December 2010 Videogame Industry Sales Totals

• December 2010 Videogame Sales - $5.06 billion (-9%)
• December 2010 Videogame Software Sales - $2.37 billion (-8%)
• December 2010 Videogame Accessories Sales - $853.2 million (+10%)

Read over Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony’s responses to the December sales numbers over here.

Source: NPD