MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
February is not traditionally a big sales month, but this year was even quieter than usual.
Where in 2013 there was a 1.9m decline in month-on-month sales between January and February, this decrease was to the tune of 16.4m in 2014.
This is due to the lack of releases on the calendar this February. Last year, we had the launches of big titles such as Crysis 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Dead Space 3 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The biggest title of the month – Thief – launched on February 28th, which is after the charts cut off.
Still, 1.6m games were sold during this period, and 42m was made from software sales.
This was a 15 per cent decline in the number of units sold year-on-year and a seven per cent drop in revenue. The disparity between sales and units is due to the higher pricing of games on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
In addition to the usual suspects in the Top Five – FIFA 14, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes – is The LEGO Movie Videogame. This, combined with the release of The LEGO Movie, had a halo effect on other LEGO titles with six games in last month’s Top 50.
It also helped increase Warner Bros’ market share. In terms of both value and units sold, the firm is second.
Furthermore, Square Enix’s market share rose sharply. The publisher is now fourth in terms of revenue and sixth in terms of units sold. This is thanks to the releases of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and a new Final Fantasy.
Below are the charts for February:
