It was bad news as usual for the retail video game industry in the United States last month.
Analysts at the NPD Group say that retail sales across the video game industry were down 22% in December, from $4.1 billion in 2011 to $3.21 billion this time around.
As usual, software caused the biggest hit (dollar sales were down 27%), which analyst Liam Callahan attributes to fewer releases.
"A major culprit in the decline in retail sales in 2012 was the lack of new releases with 29% less SKUs across consoles, portables, and PCs," he said in a statement.
"However, the SKUs that were released generated 8% more units per SKU and 11% more dollars per SKU."
The top-selling debut title of the month was Ubisoft's Far Cry 3, which saw strong figures despite releasing in December rather than the traditional holiday window in November. In fact, the NPD says this is the second-highest December debut since the group started tracking sales in 1995. Activision's November release Call of Duty: Black Ops II was the overall best-selling title for the second month in a row.
Another month of retail video game decline in the US
Another month, another decline for the retail video game industry in the United States, despite the new Wii U console and a strong debut for Ubisoft's Far Cry 3.