PS4 the Top-Selling Console in US May 2015 NPDs

The NPD Group's monthly sales report for May 2015 has been released, and the PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in the US last month.

Following a month in which the Xbox One came out on top, the PS4 returned to the top spot that it's occupied more often than not since its launch in November 2013.

"As we head into E3, we would like to thank gamers for making PS4 the top selling console and the leader in software sales in the U.S. in May," a Sony spokesperson said in a statement about the NPDs. "PS4 continues to be the cumulative sales leader in the US and globally with more than 20 million consoles already in the market. We are truly humbled by this success and we look forward to sharing what's next for PS4 at our E3 press conference on June 15."

Microsoft, meanwhile, emphasized the strong uptick in Xbox One sales as compared with last year (when the system was still bundled with Kinect). "Xbox One sales in the U.S. were up 81 percent over May 2014 and active global Xbox Live members (Xbox One and Xbox 360) were up 20 percent," said Microsoft corporate VP Mike Nichols. "We are grateful to our fans for choosing Xbox One and for making Xbox Live the fun and vibrant community that it is. We can't wait to share more on the greatest games lineup in Xbox history at E3 next week."

There's not yet any word from Nintendo on how its platforms did in May, but we'll report back with anything it shares.

Overall sales of new hardware at retail were down 18 percent to $153.6 million, compared with $186.4 during May 2014. According to NPD analyst Liam Callahan, that drop can be attributed almost entirely to a decline in last-generation console sales, which were down 45 percent year-over-year. Current-gen console sales, meanwhile, were "stable," while portable sales were up 41 percent, presumably thanks to the New 3DS, which made a strong debut earlier this year.

Unsurprisingly, The Witcher 3 was the top-selling physical game during the month in the US.