NPD Sales September 2013 Recap: GTA V Prints Money

Yesterday we caught yet another glimpse into the retail sales figures posted by marketing research firm NPD, this time for the 5 week retail month of September.

Here is the list of the top-selling video games from September 1st – October 5th:

• 1. Grand Theft Auto V – (X360, PS3) – Take-Two Interactive
• 2. Madden NFL 25 – (X360, PS3) – Electronic Arts
• 3. NBA 2K14 – (X360, PS3, PC) – Take-Two Interactive
• 4. Diablo III – (X360, PS3, PC) – Activision Blizzard
• 5. FIFA 14 – (X360, PS3, PS Vita) – Electronic Arts
• 6. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix – (PS3) – Square Enix
• 7. Disney Infinity – (X360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS ) – Disney Interactive
• 8. NHL 14 – (X360, PS3) – Electronic Arts
• 9. Minecraft – (X360) – Microsoft
• 10. Saints Row IV – (X360, PS3, PC) – Deep Silver

To nobody’s surprise, Grand Theft Auto V rose to the top of the NPD sales chart after breaking Guinness World Records left, right and center. What is particularly interesting is that the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX collection did particularly well, beating out the likes of Disney Infinity and newly-released NHL 14, a fairly great hockey game.

In terms of hardware sales, the PlayStation 3 made some important headway this month.

Additionally, the Xbox 360 has sold 1.6 million units this year. Based on previous monthly NPD sales data, that gives us an estimated 169k units sold in September. Of course, all hardware units bow down to the continued greatness of the Nintendo 3DS, as it was the best-selling game system for the fifth month in a row. Also, the Wii U increased their units sold by 200% from August numbers, which roughly suggest ~93k sold in September (exact numbers are unknown at this time).

A noticeable omission from the list is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. NPD sales charts only reliably track physical copies at this time, meaning the 2 weeks of Wind Waker being downloaded on the eShop were not taken into account. The retail version came out on October 4th, which is likely why it is not on the list. Even so, NBA 2K14 was released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 1st and made #3 on the list due to a strong core of basketball fans and the popularity of the series.