Video game sales weren’t quite as bad as some analysts were expecting in July, but the industry once again failed to match its performance of last year.

Software sales fell 8 percent last month to $403.3 million, according to the NPD Group. Hardware sales, as expected, proved the bright spot and were higher for the second month in a row, surging 12 percent, but it wasn’t enough to save the overall industry from another month of negative year-over-year growth. On the whole, the games industry was 1 percent lower than last year.

Read more at CNBC.com