Dead Space 3 Unseats Black Ops II in Game Sales

Call of Duty: Black Ops II couldn't hold onto the top spot in game sales in February, yielding pole position to Dead Space 3, a spooky third person shooter developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronics Arts, according to the latest data by The NPD Group. Total software sales dropped 27 percent to $352 million from $484 million a year prior.

1. Dead Space 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
3. Crysis 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
4. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
5. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3, Xbox 360)
6. Aliens: Colonial Marines 2013 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
7. Just Dance 4 (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
8. Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
9. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3, PS Vita)
10. Madden NFL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS Vita, Wii U)

In all, gamers spent $810 million on video game software, hardware, and accessories in February, though NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan estimates another $90 million was spent on used games and rentals. Digital sales, including full game and downloadable content (DLC) such as microtransactions and subscriptions, along with social network games, increased the consumer spend by another $319, which would bring the tally to $1.2 billion in February.


Here's a breakdown of the sales:

• Total retail sales: $810 million (down 25 percent)
• Non-PC hardware: $224.2 million (down 36 percent)
• Non-PC software: $325 million (down 27 percent)
• Accessories: $213.9 million (down 3 percent)
• Total software: $369.9 billion (down 27 percent)

As seen above, hardware sales sank 36 percent in February, slipping to $224.2 million from $382.9 million There's reason to be optimistic, however.

"Looking at hardware sales on an average per week basis, all platforms showed an increase from January into February," said Callahan. "Specifically, new platforms like the Wii U and PS Vita demonstrated some momentum from the typical January hardware lull with increases of over 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively."

The Xbox 360 topped all hardware sales for February, marking the nineteenth straight month it's been the best selling console.