June video game sales likely declined again amid lackluster game releases

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Ahead of the Bell: Video game sales likely to drop

NEW YORK — June’s video game retail sales report from the NPD Group will likely show another decline despite improved sales of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, says Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.

Market researcher NPD plans to release its monthly sales report on Thursday after the market closes. Pachter expects game software sales to decline 8 percent to $575 million.

The summer is generally a slow season for video game sales. Pachter expects the top June game releases to be “Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4″ from Warner Interactive and “Transformers: The War for Cybertron” from Activision Blizzard Inc.

Doug Creutz of Cowen and Co. expects total game sales — hardware and software — to decline 17 percent because of the month’s light game release slate.

“We now expect (year-over-year) declines in July and August as well, driven by the disappointing performance of most new May releases and the light June release slate,” Creutz wrote in a recent note to investors.

(This version CORRECTS Michael Pachter’s estimate estimate.)