March 2015 NPD: PS4 beats Xbox One; Battlefield, Bloodborne lead sluggish March game sales

Gamers weren’t as willing to open their wallets last month.

March was slow for new games and hardware sales at United States retailers despite the launch of a new Battlefield first-person shooter and the anticipated debut of the action-role-playing game Bloodborne. According to market research firm NPD Group, consumers in the U.S. spent $963.7 million on software, consoles, and accessories in March. That’s down 6 percent from $1.02 billion during the same period in 2014. The big drag on revenue was definitely new hardware sales, which were down 21 percent from $393.4 million in March 2014 to just $311.1 million this year.