The current year has seen some big releases with the likes of Battlefield 4 and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag arriving in the later part of the year, apart from the next generation console releases from Microsoft and Sony. However, it seems like all’s not well with the recently released titles, as it's been said that sales for the month of November are suffering an all-time low.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, in a recent note sent to investors regarding software sales in advance of this week's November NPD U.S. retail sales announcements, stated that software sales for the month would be down 13 percent, which is due to "far weaker-than-expected debuts" for the massively hyped Battlefield 4 and Assassin's Creed 4.
And since these games are already in this much trouble, as far as retail is concerned, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Pachter believes that this is the primary reason why “console and handheld sales were down 13 percent to $1.25 billion,” although these aren't the only ones.
“Call of Duty: Ghosts sales were also lower than expected due to unflattering reviews, Pachter said, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launches may have also put a damper on the software sales figures,” the report states.
The reason for this sudden slump, according to Pachter, is because “consumers either devoted their spending money to next-generation hardware launches, or decided to forgo purchasing current-gen versions of titles until they could find one of the supply constrained next-gen systems.”
Additionally, Pachter also spoke about the next generation console releases from Microsoft and Sony and claimed that Sony has a “considerable edge” over its rivals in the November sales race.
“He believes the PS4 sold 1.25 million units in the US during November, compared to 750,000 for the Xbox One. The PS4 launched November 15, while the Xbox One debuted November 22.”
“The new arrivals also appear to have put a significant dent in the pre-existing competition, as Pachter predicted Wii U sales would be down 65 percent year-over-year, with Xbox 360 and PS3 sales down 44 percent and 28 percent, respectively,” the report adds.
As of now, the NPD Group is expected to announce its November U.S. retail sales data on Thursday evening.
