NPD changes monthly reporting, removes hardware and software unit sales

NPD's monthly public report on video game software and hardware sales in the US will change this month. The most noticeable alteration will be the removal of hardware and software unit sales. The company will still provide a monthly list of the top ten selling "physical purchases" (i.e. brick-and-mortar retail) on consoles, but by title and not by individual platform SKUs -- meaning multi-platorm games will be clumped in one sum. The company will also continue to provide notes from its analyst, which may contain software sales figures. If this format seems familiar... congratulations, you're a reader of the weekly UK Chart-Track sales data.

NPD notes that the company's hardware and software subscribers "are permitted to release sales figures for their respective products." So, if Microsoft and Sony want to share hardware figures, but Nintendo doesn't, ain't nobody who can give out that data but the House of Mario.

NPD tried a similar tactic back in 2007, which lasted all of six days. As we said back then: "There's always a hunger for this data and if the NPD isn't going to give it up, people might just turn to less reputable sources."