Grand Theft Auto may have stalled, but industry-wide sales of video-game software continue to rev, according to July sales figures.

Overall video game software sales surged 41 percent in July versus the year-ago period, according to statistics from industry tracker NPD Group, Powering the growth were Activision’s Guitar Hero and Electronic Arts’ Rock Band.

In a research note, UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter, said that the industry, whose sales are up 48 percent year-to-date through July, “keeps chugging along” on the strength of Nintendo hardware sales and hit titles.

Revenue soared 87 percent for Activision’s Guitar Hero titles year to date and 51 percent in July versus the prior year’s period.

At industry leader Electronic Arts, NCAA Football 09, the latest version of its college football game, sold 3.4 percent more units in July and reaped only 1.5 percent more in revenue for the comparable period versus the 2008 version. Mr. Schachter noted, however, that the NCAA title is far less important than stalwart Madden NFL 09, whose sales figures will be reflected in NPD’s August sales figures. Historically, the annual Madden releases represent 20-25 percent of EA’s U.S. sales, he added.

Also bolstering EA was the Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 for Nintendo’s Wii and DS platforms, which sold 62,000 units, said Mr. Schachter (no relation to the reporter).

Take-Two Interactive saw its July software revenue climb 30 percent versus the 2007 period on the strength of the release of Sid Meier’s Civilization on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo DS. That helped offset the decline in Grand Theft Auto IV, whose unit sales fell from 1.3 million in May to 396,000 in June and 132,000 in July.

July’s five top-selling titles by unit sales were: NCAA Football 09 (Xbox 360), Wii Fit w/Balance Board (Wii), Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS), Wii Play w/Remote (Wii), and NCAA Football 09 (PS3).

Video-game software sales climbed 17 percent in July, led by Nintendo’s handheld DS, whose 603,000 unit sales represented a 49 percent year-over-year increase, and its Wii console, whose sales climbed 32 percent.