PS4 outsells Xbox One in January as Dying Light boosts software sales: NPD

NPD PS4 Xbox One Dying Light — New gen consoles and zombie slayings headline January's NPD sales figures. Sony / Microsoft / Techland

January's US sales figures from the NPD Group have revealed that Sony's PS4 was once again the best-selling console – breaking the two month winning streak of Microsoft's Xbox One.

Unsurprisingly, hardware sales were down on this time last year, but software sales were up $12.4m (£8m) thanks to Techland and Warner Bros Interactive's Dying Light – which became the fastest selling new horror IP ever.

On the whole, industry spend was down 6% year on year.

In a statement responding to the latest figures, Sony said: "Since launch in November 2013, 18.5 million PS4 units and 81.8 million software units have been sold through to consumers worldwide."

The news is disappointing for Microsoft, but they responded with spin, saying: "After closing a record-breaking holiday, 2015 is off to a great start, with record January sales for Xbox One and more game sales per console than any other platform."

In good news for both consoles, the hardware install base is jointly better than that of the Xbox 360 and PS3 during the equivalent point in their life-cycle.

Dying Light – an open world zombie survival game – was the most successful game of the month, even topping Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which placed second on the sales chart. The full list of best-selling games is as follows: