Subscribe RSSTeeth of the holiday season, video game sales during December fell 21 percent to $3.99 billion from $5.07 billion a year earlier , according to new materials from market research firm NPD Group.
Because a large amount of video game content came to market towards the end of the year, analysts expected December sales to be higher, NPD Gang analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. December accounted for 23 percent of annual sales, while the general for the past 10 years was 29 percent. Hardware sales were down 28 percent in December compared to the same month in 2010, while software sales demolish 14 percent, and accessories sales dropped 27 percent.
"December was very rough for new physical sales of video games arms, software and accessories," Frazier said.
While it was dubbed a tough month for the video game market, December sales did, however, jerk from totals seen in November , when purchases of all-things-gaming totaled $3 billion.
For the year complete, total video game sales—including hardware, software and accessories—hit $17.02 billion, down 8 percent from $18.59 billion in 2010, NPD said.
