Not a single exclusive made the NPD's best-selling games of 2015 list, proving once again that third-parties rule supreme right now. Video game sales totalled $13.1 billion in the United States for the year overall, exactly the same as in 2014. This ultimately means that, while new-gen hardware is on the rise, it's being cancelled out by falling sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The top ten reads much like you'd expect it to: Call of Duty: Black Ops III headlined, with Madden NFL 16, Fallout 4, Star Wars Battlefront, and, unbelievably, Grand Theft Auto V rounding out the top five. Meanwhile, NBA 2K16, Minecraft, FIFA 16, Mortal Kombat X, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare padded out the bottom half of the list. It's worth noting that these numbers don't take into account bundles or digital sales.
But again, it's a reminder that exclusives aren't the needle-mover that they once were: Bloodborne, Halo 5, and Super Mario Maker – three of the biggest first-party releases of the year – couldn't breach the top ten. It's not a surprise considering that these titles are targeting fewer formats, but the complete dominance of third-parties is a recent phenomenon – and it doesn't look likely to change.
Top Ten Physical Retail Releases: 2015 Overall
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- Madden NFL 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One) 360, PS3, PC)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Minecraft (360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
- FIFA 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Mortal Kombat X (PS4, Xbox One)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 20
No Arkham Knight in the top ten is a shock.
I thought Super Mario Maker would chart. I think exclusives just don't have the punch they used to.
@get2sammyb wow, what's even more surprising is even last year's cod sold more than Batman! Seems crazy to me, Batman was everywhere around that time of year.
@DrClayman Yup. No The Witcher 3 either. Just goes to show how much of a juggernaut Call of Duty still is.
And this hurts Nintendo more than anybody. I know Nintendo fans don't want to hear it but the strategy needs to be much more mainstream thinking than Nintendo's own unique ideas. I've always respected Nintendo for wanting to do its own thing when it comes to game design but when it comes to the hardware that plays those games, sometimes simple is the best option. Nintendo needs to look at the simple approach Sony took with PS4 and follow it while doing basic things Sony didn't do like allowing for external hard drive support.
As for the best sellers. I don't think any of us who live in the States are surprised. And GTA V is a beast. It has to be approaching 40 mil sales by now.
Dang. I'm surprised to see Minecraft and Advanced Warfare there. I guess COD really does bring in the bacon. This almost it makes me feel slightly bad about buying Battlefront too... It's not a bad game, but it certainly doesn't deserve those sales. Oh and Mortal Kombat X really surprised me as well. I honestly haven't heard all that much about it - I would have never thought it would have made it when games like Batman and AC didn't.
I don´t think exclusives are nessecarily on the way out or anything. Just look at the exclusives PS4 released this year. They were great in their own right, but none of them are system sellers by any means. Bloodborne wasn't as hyped as, for example, Street Fighter V and Uncharted 4.
@Gamer83 That wouldn't do anything for Nintendo. People in the US want to play the big western multiplatform games, but they don't want to buy a Nintendo platform to play them.
Nintendo is basically more niche in the west than in the past.
@WebHead Interestingly enough, from what I've read on Neogaf, the top 10 for Japan paints a completely different picture - it's all 3DS and Wii U exclusives, though not all of those are 1st party Nintendo releases.
Anyways, want to see some God-tier levels of Microsoft PR spin?
Look at this sentence from at the end of their PR statement, and tell me what the spin is:
"Xbox is the best place for gamers and the only console that has all top 10 best-selling titles of this generation that launched in 2015."
Notice it? Look at this part: "launched in 2015."
Now look at the chart in the article. Yeah, they excluded games that didn't launch in 2015 (such as GTA V, Minecraft, and CoD AW) until the top ranking Xbox exclusive (presumably Halo 5) was in the top 10 list.
Amazing PR spin.
I'm surprised retail sales have remained the same, digital really took off last year so these game companies are making loads of wonga.
I wasn't aware that exclusives were ever big hitters, by their very nature than can only sell less as they ain't available on all consoles. No surprises.
Is there a list anywhere for digital download's? I doubt game's like AW have made the digital top 10 as it only need's buying once, alot of the above sale's for AW will be people that are replacing damaged, broken or lost disc's, the same go's for GTA5.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Someone pointed out that Halo 3 finished second in the equivalent chart to this for its release year. We've definitely seen the likes of Call of Duty et al take over in the past five or six years.
In the UK, didn't PS4 have 2 Exclusives in the top 50 compared to XB1's 7? I saw a video on this and I thought the Witcher 3 sold fewer than Batman but came in at 11 in the UK at least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IEUOGHEZiU
Great result for Star Wars Battlefront.... A game that, according to critic and tons of players, lacks a lot of contents kept behind a superexpensive DLC....
As usual, we hate EA but we can t keep away our wallet from them....
@IceClimbers
I don't know as I agree. Over here it seems people will buy anything trendy, just advertise it right. And for Nintendo, that's another unfortunate problem, its marketing department is a complete joke right now. As bad as Sony's was last gen.
I would never buy any of those, and have no interest in playing them. Poor taste America.
@arnoldlayne83 Whilst I will agree it is a surprisingly high sales figure all things considered, it also shows how hype and a 'name', in this case 'Star Wars', can sell regardless of content or game-play.
At one point, Xbox used to show the highest played games on live (I don't know if PS did the same) and I think it would be interesting to see where it fits in and if people are still playing certain games a month or two after launch. Battlefront has certainly been helped by the hype and success of the movie, the 'free' Battle of Jakku DLC and of course Christmas sales too - meaning that a steady influx of new players and a reason for older players to return but I wonder how many are playing it a month or two after getting it.
Personally I thought the game was 'OK' at the start, when everything was 'new' but quickly became very repetitive and felt very shallow. It doesn't have much reason to 'keep' playing - certainly not 'solo'. It has the 'fun with friends' factor - something to have a laugh with for an hour or so, but certainly doesn't have the tactical play or longevity potential of the other shooter games available. It is visually impressive but I get bored of it very quickly. I would rather play BF4 - a game over 2years old than this.
@BAMozzy i totally agree on what you said. In fact I will probably wait for a definitive edition or psn discounts to get it, if someone will still play it. Graphics and audio look amazing, but the 'meat is not there'. I am sad about it, cos the franchise and the techmical ability of DICE should have led to a much better result. No comment on pricing policy, which I think is totally insane...
There was an Arkham Knight PS4 bundle, which Sony said helped drive sales, so maybe that had an impact. What surprises me, as a Yank, is that FIFA 16 ranked so high. I can see that happening in Europe, but the States?
Tap here to load 20 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...