PS4 trumps Xbox One in sales for March 2015

Probably not a surprise for many of you, but Sony's PlayStation 4 has once again outsold Microsoft's Xbox One. NPD Group released the video game sales figures in the U.S. for March 2015, and though the company doesn't share specific hardware numbers, Sony revealed the victory.

“We are truly honored PlayStation 4 is the top-selling console and No. 1 in software sales again according to NPD sales data for March 2015,” Sony said in a statement. “PS4 remains the cumulative sales leader both globally and in the United States and we want to thank gamers worldwide for their ongoing support.”

Overall though, March was a bit of a disappointment in terms of overall games and hardware sales. Despite the release of Battlefield Hardline, and several PS4 exclusives, including Bloodborne (which sold over one million units worldwide), sales for hardware, software, and accessories in March totalled just $963.7 million. That's down 6 percent from the $1.02 billion during the same period in 2014.

“Console hardware was the primary culprit responsible for the March 2015 sales decline, with a 29 percent, or $104 million decrease, in spending while portable hardware rose by 71 percent over last year," NPD Group's Liam Callahan pointed out. "“Hardware unit sales decreased by 9 percent, and with average prices down 13 percent across all platforms, dollar sales decreased by 21 percent.”

On the software side of things, pyshical software sales were down 6 percent from March 2014, though "strong growth" of eighth generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U) helped to partially offset "the sharp declines" of seventh generation consoles, down 52 percent from the same period last year.

“March 2015 software sales showed growth across all three eighth generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U), collectively increasing by 58 percent versus March 2014.  This is a sign of the health of the eight generation console space; especially when considering the strong March 2014 software releases (as a comparison) such as Titanfall and inFamous: Second Son," Callahan reasoned. “One factor in the decline of total new physical sales in March 2015 was the 16 percent decrease of new releases sales compared to games launched in March 2014."

Callahand noted, “The launch of Bloodborne ranked as second overall in software sales this month, but also has the second highest sales for the debut month of a first-party game on the PS4, after inFamous: Second Son, in March 2014.”