Electronic Arts’ (EA) first person shooter game Titanfall topped the video-game sales list in April, per NPD data. The game’s availability on Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360 in March helped it to retain the #1 position for the second consecutive month.
Overall, video game retail sales (software, hardware and accessories) increased 17.0% from the year-ago month to $580.3 million, driven by continued strong hardware sales that surged 76.0% to $192.8 million. Video-game accessory sales also increased 21.0% from the year-ago month to $159.0 million.
Strong demand for new consoles from Microsoft and Sony (SNE) drove hardware sales. Sony’s PlayStation 4 remained the top-selling console for the fourth consecutive month, outselling Xbox One.
However, higher spending on new consoles were primarily blamed for muted software sales, which decreased 10.0% from the year-ago month to $227.9 million. Per NPD, sluggish sales of old-generation console games were also responsible for the sales decline.
Video Game Market – Top Stories Now
Vivendi to Sell Half of its Stake in Activision Blizzard (ATVI) – Per Bloomberg, Vivendi is selling half (5.8%) of its existing stake in Activision worth approximately $850.0 million. In October last year, Activision and ASAC II LP, an investment group acquired approximately 601 million shares from Vivendi for approximately $8.17 billion.
Glu Mobile (GLUU) Buys PlayFirst – Glu Mobile recently acquired PlayFirst thereby expanding its free-to-play game portfolio. PlayFirst is the developer of the popular Diner Dash, Cooking Dash, Hotel Dash and Wedding Dash games, which have been downloaded over 750 million times across all platforms.
Nintendo Sued by Philips – Nintendo was recently sued by Philips, which alleged that the Wii U maker infringed on two of its patents. Philips demanded damages as well as an import ban on Wii gaming consoles into the U.S.
Microsoft to Offer a Cheaper Xbox One: Microsoft recently said that starting next month, it will make a version of Xbox One (minus the Kinect sensor) available for $399, or the same price as Sony’s competing PS4. (Read more: Microsoft to Slash Xbox One Price by $100)
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), NetEase (NTES) Earnings Disappoint – Take-Two reported a disappointing fourth-quarter 2014 (Read more: Take-Two Reports Q4 Loss, Misses on Revs). Chinese game-maker, NetEase reported first-quarter 2014 earnings of $1.38 per ADS that missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a couple of cents. Revenues of $429.0 million were also short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Game News
- Zynga launched Hit It Rich! Casino game on Google Play.
- EA announced global open beta of new free-to-play FIFA World PC game.
- Activision announced that Diablo III: Reaper of Souls- Ultimate Evil Edition will be launched on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on Aug 19.
- Microsoft announced that it will launch Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One in the fall of 2015.
Performance
Over the last 5 days, Activision was the leading stock as it added about 2.91%. The biggest loser was Zynga, as the social gaming company lost over 2.58%. Electronic Arts has been the biggest gainer in the last 6 months, with Activision a distant second.
|
Stock Price Chart (as of 5.21.2014) |
||
|
Last 5 days |
Last 6 months |
|
|
ATVI |
2.91% |
21.27% |
|
EA |
1.32% |
49.52% |
|
MSFT |
0.05% |
7.40% |
|
NTES |
2.22% |
8.10% |
|
SNE |
-2.49% |
-12.30% |
|
TTWO |
2.13% |
14.00% |
|
ZNGA |
-2.58% |
-22.60% |
Conclusion
The continued strong demand for new consoles is expected to remain an overhang on overall software sales. Moreover, lack of new big-game releases from the likes of Activision and EA will negatively impact May retail sales.
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