It's that time of the month where the latest NPD data gets released. The month of May saw some impressive growth for the industry as several new games made gamers open up their wallets.

According to the NPD report, gamers spent over $586 on retail software and hardware. This is up 52% from last year which saw the industry take in $387 million. This surge should come as no surprise seeing as how two big games: Watch_Dogs and Mario Kart 8 were released. These games also no doubt boosted hardware sales. Despite the fact that both games came out near the end of May, they topped the charts for the entire month. This is no small feat.

Those two weren't the only games that sold well and overall, more games were bought this May than last. New retail games brought in $274 million. This is a jump of 57% from last year's $175 million. Game sales in general saw a big boost and raked in $227.9 million. This can be attributed to Watch_Dogs which sold over 4 million copies in its first week.

The PlayStation 4 was again the top selling console for the fifth month in a row. Both it and the Xbox One were responsible for the majority of consoles sold. Hardware sales for the month of May were $187 million. This is an increase of over 95% from last year's $96 million. No specific numbers for any of the three platforms (PS4, XBO and Wii U) were given at this time.

Overall, May was a very strong month for the gaming industry. It goes to show that gamers are willing to buy games no matter what time of year it is.

Below is a list of the top 10 selling games in May:

01. Watch Dogs (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PlayStation 3, PC)

02. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

03. MLB 14: The Show (PS4, PS3, Vita)

04. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)

05. Minecraft (360, PS3)

06. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U)

07. NBA 2K14 (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC)

08. Titanfall (360, Xbox One, PC)

09. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)

10. Call of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC, Wii U)