Major video game publishers Electronic Arts and Activision have slammed the sales figures released by retail sales tracker NPD Group after the latter released data pointing to an 8% decline in software sales for the month of February. According to them, the NPD's numbers can prove misleading since it doesn't take into account any software sold through digital outlets.

"Using NPD data for video game sales is like measuring music sales and ignoring something called iTunes," said EA corporate communications executive Tiffany Steckler. "We see NPD's data as a misrepresentation of the entire industry."

CNN reports that the publishers went on to say that NPD figures are becoming ptentially irrelevant. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, however, thinks this is a "gross overstatement."

"EA saying physical game sales don't matter is like Best Buy saying television sales don't matter," he said. Pachter further added that a significant portion of "digital-only" sales still require the purchase of a physical game.

Other analysts, like Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia, seem to agree that digital sales do have a significant impact on publishe sales. "The growth part of the business is non-retail sales," he said.

Via [CNN Money]

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