GTA 5 and Pokemon dominate software sales in October

The NPD released game sales charts for the month of October, and, unsurprisingly, the top slots are dominated by Grand Theft Auto V and Pokemon. According to the NPD, GTAV was the top selling game with just under 1.1 million copies sold. In a separate press release from Nintendo, Pokemon X and Y sold 1.7 million copies together (though they are listed individually by the NPD).

Here’s the top 10 list of physical retail sales across all platforms in October:

1. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3) -- Take 2 Interactive
2. Pokemon X (3DS) -- Nintendo
3. Pokemon Y (3DS) -- Nintendo
4. Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, PC) -- Electronic Arts
5. Batman: Arkham Origins (360, PS3, NWU, PC) -- Warner Bros. Interactive
6. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS3, NWU) -- Ubisoft
7. NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PC) -- Take 2 Interactive
8. Skylanders SWAP Force (WII, 360, PS3, NWU, 3DS) -- Activistion Blizzard
9. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, PS3, NWU, 3DS, PSV, PC) -- Warner Bros. Interactive
10. WWE 2K14 (360, PS3) -- Take 2 Interactive

While hardware sales are not ranked, the 3DS was mentioned as the top-selling console overall, bolstered by both the Pokemon franchise and the release of the Nintendo 2DS. Looking at home consoles, the Xbox 360 jumped to the front after getting pushed down by the PS3 in September.

Here are the total sales numbers along with the percentage change compared to the same month last year.

• Total retail sales: $755.7 (+5% change)
• Hardware sales: $187.4 (-8%)
• Software sales (console and portable - new physical sales only): 432.6 (+12%)
• Accessories: $135.6 (+1)

This is the third consecutive month that total physical software sales increased over the previous year. With the pending release of the Xbox One and the PS4, we expect the year-on-year increase in software to continue through the end of the 2013 at least.