PS4, Battlefield: Hardline top US retail in March

NPD’s March 2015 report shows PlayStation 4 on top in a down period for hardware at US retail, while Battlefield: Hardline and Bloodborne duked it out for the top spot in a flourishing software category.

While Sony declared victory over Microsoft and Nintendo in hardware, the category was down 21 per cent compared to March 2014.

"Hardware unit sales decreased by 9 per cent, and with average prices down 13 per cent across all platforms, dollar sales decreased by 21 per cent," NPD Group’s Liam Callahan said.

"Console hardware was the primary culprit responsible for the March 2015 sales decline, with a 29 per cent, or $104 million decrease, in spending while portable hardware rose by 71 per cent over last year."

The software division fared far better, with sales across new consoles up 58 per cent year-over-year. Battlefield: Hardline took the top spot, outlasting a strong effort by PlayStation-exclusive Bloodborne. The game had the strongest debut month for a PS4 game since Infamous: Second Son in 2014.

Here’s the top ten games for March

1. Battlefield: Hardline (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
2. Bloodborne (PS4)
3. Grand Theft Auto V (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)
4. Mario Party 10 (Wii U)
5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)
6. MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS3)
7. Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4)
8. NBA 2K15 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4, XBO)
10. Final Fantasy: Type-0 HD (PS4, XBO)