NPD numbers for March 2017 are in and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands was the best selling game for the period. The highly anticipated open world tactical shooter beat out some stiff competition for the month, including the very successful Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
That also makes it two months in a row for Ubisoft, whose historical fighting game For Honor was the best selling game for February. What made For Honor’s debut impressive, though, was the fact it released almost two-thirds through February, whereas Wildlands hit very early in March.
No doubt there was a lot of anticipation surrounding Ghost Recon: Wildlands heading into launch, but interest seems to have tapered off some since then. Those that are still invested in the world, though, have a new Narco Road DLC to enjoy later this month.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild March Sales
For Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the second place showing is slightly surprising, if only because Nintendo’s new exclusive has been selling extremely well. In fact, Breath of the Wild sold so well that gamers bought Switch copies of the game without actually owning a Switch yet.
Of course, a console exclusive is unlikely to outsell a multiplatform release, but Zelda still did well for the month and should continue to sell well throughout the rest of the year. That’s assuming Nintendo can keep Switch consoles well stocked from now until the fall.
March 2017 Game Sales Top 10
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Mass Effect: Andromeda
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- MLB 17: The Show
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- For Honor
- NBA 2K17
- NieR: Automata
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Other notable entries on the top 10 games for March 2017 list include Mass Effect: Andromeda, MLB 17: The Show, and NieR: Automata. It might not be worth reading into Andromeda’s place at number 3 since the game released so late in the month, but the negative word of mouth heading into launch could have played a part. We will have to wait and see where the title ranks in April to better understand if BioWare’s latest stumbled on the sales front.
The NPD group also echoed prior revelations that March was a huge month for Nintendo on the hardware front. According to them, the Switch launch was the biggest for any Nintendo console and the second best for any platform in history. Much like Zelda, the Switch has been a hot commodity since launch and will likely continue to be for the rest of the year.
Overall, it was a strong March for game sales, which continues the year's trend of top tier releases. Admittedly, things will slow down a bit as we head into summer and E3, but March was certainly a high point filled with lots of competition.