Madden NFL 16 Scores Top Spot In August Game Sales, PS4 Outsells Xbox One

Market research firm NPD Group released its game sales data for the month of August, which were down 10 percent year-over-year to $207.9 million. This year's new releases just couldn't live up to the blockbuster titles that came out a year ago, including Diablo III for consoles and The Last of Us for PlayStation 4.

This timer around, it was EA's Madden NFL 16 that topped the games sales chart, followed by Minecraft. Yes, Minecraft , and that's indicative of why sales are down. Having a game that made its first appearance in 2009 in alpha form and in 2011 as a polished product take the number two spot on the sales chart is indicative of the need for more hit titles.

Madden NFL 16

Here's a look at the top ten list of games for August:

  1. Madden NFL 16
  2. Minecraft
  3. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
  4. Grand Theft Auto V
  5. Lego: Jurassic World
  6. Rare Replay
  7. Until Dawn
  8. Call of Duty: Black Ops Combo Pack
  9. BAtman: Arkham Knight
  10. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

On the hardware side of the equation, NPD Group confirmed that Sony's PlayStation 4 console outsold rival Microsoft's Xbox One, though both racked up a decent amount of games sales for their respective platforms.

All combined, physical game and hardware sales totaled $548 million in August in the U.S., representing a 2 percent declined compared to the same month a year ago. However, it should be noted that NPD Group doesn't tally up digital sales, only games and systems sold in retail store locations in the U.S. It also ignore used game sales.