With the highly positive reception that Capcom's latest game has had from both gamers and reviewers alike, it should come as no surprise that Monster Hunter World's sales have been good. However, new figures released for the month of January show that the game's success has been even greater than anticipated.

January 2018 was an excellent month in general for the video game industry, not just for Monster Hunter World. Figures released by the NPD Group, an industry-tracking firm, show that the video game industry saw a 59% rise in year-over-year sales for January this year, generating slightly over $1 billion. While sales were up across the industry, it was Monster Hunter World that took the coveted spot as best-selling video game of the month. Monster Hunter World didn't even release until the January 26, giving the title just six days with which to compete with the other games that sold well during the month.

Monster Hunter World was the Best Selling Game of January

The first Monster Hunter title to be developed for the current generation of consoles, Monster Hunter World appeared to be an attempt by Capcom to attract a more mainstream Western gaming audience to the series. For years, the Monster Hunter franchise has enjoyed great success in Japan, but it has garnered much less attention in the West, where it has remained a relatively niche title, especially with the last two entries in the series being limited to handheld devices. On that score, Monster Hunter World has evidently been a resounding success. In its first weekend alone, the game sold over 5 million copies, the most successful launch weekend of any Monster Hunter game in the US, according to NPD.

Monster Hunter World had stiff competition for the top-selling game across all platforms in January - Dragon Ball FighterZ came in at #2, with Call of Duty: WW2 at #3. In a month where many retailers hold post-Christmas sales, the list of bestselling games was also filled with successful games from 2017 and beyond, including Super Mario Odyssey, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ever successful as the best-selling video game of all timeGrand Theft Auto 5 managed to claim a spot as the fifth best-selling game.

Monster Hunter: World is available now on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. A PC release is planned for the second half of 2018.