Sales of video games have tanked over the last few months, especially in the month of April, according to the NDP Group, a retail market research organization which follows the sales of many products, including video games.
Software sales alone were down 22 percent in April, which meant a loss of almost millions of dollars for the video game industry. Overall the industry was down 26 percent, still accumulating $766 million dollars though expectations had been better.
Hardware sales also were hit hard, though the Nintendo Wii continues to lead the pack with 277, 200 sales despite the fact those sales were down a whopping 50 percent. Overall, hardware sales were down 37 percent. Sony's sales dropped 48 percent while Microsoft was down 45 percent.
Why are video game sales down so much?
According to the NDP Group, there were a couple of reasons. For one, there were few new releases of games in April. Secondly, the Easter holiday was moved, which threw off gift sales somewhat.
Maybe the weak economy is finally catching up to the video game industry. Or maybe it was just a blip. Either way, expect cheaper video games later this year as companies try to reel back customers.
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