Sales tracking firm The NPD Group has released its report on the state of the US videogame industry for the month of January 2012, noting a concerning 34% year-over-year drop in sales across software, hardware and accessory market segments resulting in revenues of $750.6 million, down from $1.14 billion in January 2011.

January 2012 Software Sales

For the month of January 2012, sales of videogame software (including PC titles) in the US dropped by 37% down to $379.6 million, most likely as a result of less new games at retail compared to last year. January 2011 saw the release of LittleBigPlanet 2, DC Universe Online and Dead Space 2, for example, while releases in January 2012 were thin on the ground.

NPD’s Anita Frasier also notes that the major holiday releases of 2011 weren’t being snapped up as rapidly in 2012 as 2010’s releases were at the beginning of 2011.

“As shoppers were not drawn to stores due to new launch activity, this potentially impacted additional software purchases made on impulse,” Frasier wrote.

For January 2012, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 once again topped the sales rankings, followed by Just Dance 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - the same top three line-up as December 2011.

Here’s the full list:

January 2012 Software Sales Chart

• 1.) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) - Activision Blizzard
• 2.) Just Dance 3 (Wii, Xbox 360) - Ubisoft
• 3.) Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Bethesda Softworks
• 4.) NBA 2K12 (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360) - Take 2 Interactive
• 5.) Battlefield 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Electronic Arts
• 6.) Madden NFL 12 (PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360) - Electronic Arts
• 7.) Mario Kart 7 (3DS) - Nintendo
• 8.) Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) - Activision Blizzard
• 9.) Zumba Fitness 2: Party Yourself (Wii) - Majesco
• 10.) Saints Row: The Third (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - THQ

January 2012 Hardware Sales

Sales of videogame hardware in the US for the month of January 2012 didn’t fair much better than its software counterpart and only amounted to $199.5 million, a 38% decline compared to the same period last year.

At the moment, we only have hardware sales data for Xbox 360 after Microsoft very rapidly announced its numbers and revealed that the console has retained the top-selling spot in the US for the 13th week in a row - we’ll update the story as soon as Nintendo and Sony’s sales figures come through.

January 2012 Hardware Sales Chart

• Xbox 360: 270K (-29%) - (representing a 49% share of console hardware sales)

January 2012 Videogame Industry Sales Totals

January 1st 2012 through January 28th 2012:

• January 2012 Videogame Sales - $750.6 million (-34%)
• January 2012 Videogame Hardware Sales - $199.5 million (-38%)
• January 2012 Videogame Software Sales - $379.6 million (-37%)
• January 2012 Videogame Accessories Sales - $195.2 million (-18%)

• Here is Sony Computer Entertainment America’s response to this month’s NPD report.

• And here is Microsoft’s response to this month’s NPD report.