Darksiders II Dominate US Software Sales, Gives Boon To THQ

David Riley’s just sent in the NPD’s August report, and while the industry suffered another sharp decline of 20%, THQ’s Darksiders II managed to top the software charts.

Top-selling software August 2012

Darksiders 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
New Super Mario Bros (3DS)
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop Distance (3DS)
NCAA Football 13 (PS3, Xbox 360)
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360)
Sleeping Dogs (PS3, Xbox 360)
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PS3, Xbox 360)
Batman: Arkham City (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
The Amazing Spider-Man (3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

Software on a whole fell to $237.7 million, a 9% year-on-year decrease from $261.8 million a year ago. The NPD’s Anita Frazier blames a decrease in the release of new titles:

One factor contributing to the softness we have seen in retail content sales so far in 2012 has been the decline in the sheer number of new titles. This, however, was not the case in August because there were more new titles when compared to last year; titles with sales that were significantly better than last year’s launches. So, what we’re seeing impact August results is the domino effect of the light release schedule from earlier in the year. That lack of new releases has had a significant impact on subsequent month’s sales.

Hopefully the outstanding performance will secure a future Darksiders title, because it’s a darn great franchise. Our review’s here.