PlayStation 4 tops console and software sales in July

The PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in July in the United States, according to data from market research firm The NPD Group that Sony shared.

The latest sales figures also reveal that the combined US sales of PS4 and Xbox One are now far stronger than their predecessors during the same period.

In addition, NPD announced that last month, LEGO: Jurassic World was the best-selling game of the month. With little in the way of big system sellers this month, there is no surprise that the PS4 has once again come out on top of the monthly NPDs.

Microsoft certainly didn’t have a bad month with its Xbox One either, even coming in second place.

As it was predicted, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are finally easing themselves into the grave while the newer-generation consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4 soar in terms of sales and game compatibility.

Surprisingly, LEGO: Jurassic World took the top spot this month, after already being out for three weeks prior in June as well. The NPD report says that PS4 experienced better sales than Xbox One.

Despite that, overall retail video game sales were only up 6 per cent on last year, with hardware sales described as seeing “modest” growth and software sales “flat”.

Sony was pleased with the results in July thanks mostly to a special bundled version of its PlayStation 4 along with Batman: Arkham Knight. Both games are published from Warner Bros.

Video game companies are benefiting from the console upgrade cycle hitting its sweet spot. “Xbox One sales in the US [were] up 44% over July 2014 and active global Xbox Live users – Xbox One and Xbox 360 – up 2%”.

Sony expects the momentum to continue into the fall as it preps yet another hardware bundle with Activision Blizzard‘s space shooter Destiny, which releases a large update in September.

Xbox marketing boss Mike Nichols said in a statement: “Xbox One and Xbox Live continued to see strong sales and engagement in July”. Microsoft, however, is gearing up for a hardware boost of its own with the release of the next installment in its acclaimed sci-fi shooter franchise Halo in October.