If you ever doubted the impact that blockbuster games have on monthly software sales, then this new infographic will convince you of the importance of AAA titles.

The image below (created by the fine folks at Statista) shows the year-over-year change in monthly software sales while noting big releases. The last four months have experienced the largest declines seen on the chart, which shows data from all the way back to 2006.

However, hugely-popular titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Batman: Arkham City helped the 2011 holiday season perform slightly better than the previous year’s. The largest increase from 2010 to 2011 occurred in April, when Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat brought some heavy-hitters to what is usually a quiet month.

Be sure to click the infographic so you can see the full-sized image.

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