July’s NPD numbers are in and the world’s greatest detective has fallen to the might of plastic dinosaurs – with some caveats.

Batman, which took the lead last month, fell to number two as Lego Jurassic World took its place. If, however, you include console bundles that came with Batman: Arkham Knight, it’s a different story. Including those bundles – which the list below does not – places Batman in the number one spot. Minecraft, which has been on the NPD list for an impressive amount of time, rose up from number six in June all the way to number three this month. The biggest new release for July is Rory Mcilroy PGA Tour which came in at number six.

Here’s the full top 10 list for July. The platforms are listed in the order of sales, and do not include hardware bundles.

  1. Lego: Jurassic World (360, 3DS, PS3, XBO, NWU, PS4, PSV)
  2. Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4, XBO, PC)
  3. Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4)
  4. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)
  5. Rory Mcilroy PGA Tour (PS4, XBO)
  6. The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (XBO, PS4, PC)
  7. Destiny (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)
  8. Mortal Kombat X (PS4, XBO)
  9. FIFA 15 (PS4, 360,. XBO, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS)
  10. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)

The industry overall saw some dips and some increases. Sales across hardware, new physical software, and accessories rose by 5% representing a trend towards a flat rate of sales. New game release sales are down 5% from last month, but still represent a substantial increase compare to 2014. New-gen software sales are up an impressive 63% (likely thanks to Batman’s influence), but last-gen and handheld software is down 39% and 33%, respectively.

Hardware sales didn’t spike much this month rising only 2% compared to July 2014. New-gen consoles and handhelds are still seeing positive growth, but last-gen console sales saw a large drop at 56%. NPD also offered this interesting statistic: “After 21 months, combined Xbox One and PS4 hardware unit sales are close to 50 percent higher than the combined sales of Xbox 360 and PS3 after 21 months on the market.”

Sony offered a comment here about its PlayStation 4 sales, which are still going strong and in the lead thanks in part to Batman. Microsoft and Xbox One are keeping up though, and corporate vice president of Xbox marketing at Microsoft Mike Nichols wrote the following in a statement: “Xbox One and Xbox Live continued to see strong sales and engagement in July, with Xbox One sales in the U.S. up 44% over July 2014 and active global Xbox Live users (Xbox One and Xbox 360) up 22%.” Nichols’ statement also mentions the release of Windows 10, but does not offer any insight into its sales or popularity.

 

Our Take
The new generation of consoles is doing well for video games, better than I think many assumed it would considering the gap between graphical capability between this and the previous generation is the smallest it’s ever been. It’s impressive how well Batman continues to perform, but not nearly as impressive as Minecraft which seems to be on its way to be owned by every human being on planet Earth.

July 2015 NPD: Lego Jurassic World Overtakes Batman, Minecraft Won’t Go Away