Despite taking most of the year off from major new releases after the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 2020 has proven one of the most successful years for Nintendo Switch in the console's history. Once again, NPD's sales charts have shown that games and console sales in 2020 has lead to an increased year-over-year growth in spending on video games, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recently released Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles.
According to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, "Consumer spending across video game hardware, content, and accessories reached $3.8 billion in October 2020, 14% higher when compared to a year ago," a running theme with console and game sales across 2020. "Mobile, subscription, hardware, and accessories were among the largest growth segments. Year-to-date spending totaled $37.5 billion, 20% higher than the same period in 2019." Leading the charge for hardware sales last month was none other than Nintendo's handheld/console hybrid Nintendo Switch, which continues to dominate hardware sales and claiming the highest October sales of any console since the Nintendo Wii in 2008.
While Nintendo Switch is seeing a huge streak in popularity moving into the holiday season, it is hard to tell if the system will be able to keep up its momentum going forward as it now has tough competition with the newly released PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, however supply shortages for these consoles may make it difficult for these consoles to overthrow Nintendo Switch.
In terms of software, EA Sports' FIFA 21 dominated October's software sales, which should not come as a surprise, but does accounting for the fact that NPD only tracks sales date in the United Sates. This is the first time a FIFA title has launched a number 1 in the U.S. market, suggesting a growing interest in soccer in the United States. FIFA 21 managed to out-sell other newcomers such as NHL 21, Watch Dogs Legion, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, however as Piscatella also notices, nine out of the top 20 best-selling games of October were published by Nintendo, leading to yet another knockout month for the Japanese console manufacturer.
Despite releasing on October 29th, meaning only 3 days of sales could be tracked for the month, Watch Dogs Legion surprisingly managed to place third in the entire month, spelling good news for Ubisoft's newest open-world action game, even ahead of its launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Watch Dogs Legion managed to become the second highest-selling game on Xbox platforms and the third-highest on PlayStation platforms.
Another title of note to make the list is Nintendo's Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a $100 AR title which managed to place fifth even in spite of its price. This also places the game as the highest-selling game on any Nintendo platform for the month of October.
While none of the newcomers sold enough to rank among NPD's highest-selling titles of 2020 list so far, games such as Madden NFL 21, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and Ghost of Tsushima all saw substantial sales boosts cementing their placements on the list.
Source: VentureBeat