Marvel’s Spider-Man smashed records during its launch month in the United States, with the NPD Group reporting that the exclusive secured the highest launch month dollar sales for a PlayStation exclusive of all time. The title also enjoyed seventh largest debut of any PlayStation release ever, and is the third best-selling title of the year so far. And yes, that includes multiformat games.
In fact, the NPD’s Mat Piscatella shared the following staggering statistic: “Marvel’s Spider-Man achieved launch month sales 37 per cent higher than the combined launch month sales of all other Spider-Man games released since the NPD Group began tracking in 1995.” That’s an absolutely phenomenal achievement, so hats off to Insomniac Games and everyone involved.
Elsewhere in the software charts, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – which technically launched on 5th October but just sneaked into the September tracking period – managed to debut in third position, with double-digit growth over last year’s Assassin’s Creed Origins. Basketball simulation NBA 2K19 also secured the biggest launch in franchise history.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, meanwhile, managed a larger launch than Rise of the Tomb Raider – although it’s worth remembering that the 2015 instalment debuted as an Xbox exclusive, which surely had an impact on its performance. All in all, software for the month increased five per cent year-over-year, with the industry enjoying another strong September.
As for hardware, the ageing PS4 continues to perform outrageously well, wrestling the console crown back from the Nintendo Switch and becoming the best-selling system for the sixth time this year. It’s still the top performing platform of 2018 so far, and that’s despite Sony not really budging on price. It’ll be interesting to see what it does during Black Friday.
We’ve included all of the relevant data from a record-breaking month below, so feel free to pore over it and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. The takeaway, as far as we can tell, is that all three major consoles have been performing very well in the US this year, which can only be good for the games industry as a whole.
NPD Software Top 20: September 2018
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- NBA 2K19
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- FIFA 19**
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Madden NFL 19**
- Forza Horizon 4
- Destiny 2**
- Super Mario Party*
- NHL 19
- Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
- WWE 2K19
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Mario Kart 8
- Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Minecraft**
NPD PS4 Software Top 10: September 2018
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- NBA 2K19
- FIFA 19
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Madden NFL 19
- Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
- Destiny 2
- NHL 19
- WWE 2K19
NPD Best Selling Games of 2018 So Far
- Far Cry 5
- God of War
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Monster Hunter: World
- NBA 2K19
- Madden NFL 19**
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Call of Duty: WWII**
- Dragon Ball: FighterZ
- Mario Kart 8*
* No digital sales included
** No PC digital sales included
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 38
Congrats to Sony and insomniac that is absolutely crazy. It’s also crazy that the PS4 is still selling so well this far into its life and that’s without a price cut yet just wow
Sony broke their exclusive launch record twice in six months. It cannot be understated how insane that is.
Glad to hear but we all know that records are about to be smashed in the next day or so. Still suprised about far cry 5. A friend bought it for me and I think I've played around 30min in total. It's not bad but it sure is boring and paint by numbers(or bullets)
@zimbogamer The exclusive records won't be. But yes, Red Dead Redemption is going straight to the top of all these charts.
@get2sammyb i still remember the last generation where Sony exclusives were recognised for their excellence but were only selling tiny numbers, particularly when compared to the 360. Like uncharted 2, which is widely considered one of ps3's best exclusives only sold in the region of 5 million copies.
Well done Sony, well done Insomniac, santa monica for GoW, Guerilla for Horizon, naughty dog, and all those other talented devs creating such quality exclusive software for the system.
This makes a spidey sequel inevitable. I hope the money from these sales will allow insomniac to work on 2 projects at once, as i would love a new ratchet game too!
Fascinated to see how ghost of tsushima, death stranding, days gone, dreams and the last of us 2 perform!!
@zimbogamer The exclusives record wont be, at least not on PS4. Other systems potentially for the remainder of 2018.
At this point though, no game releasing as an exclusive is hitting that top 10 for the year.
@Rob_230 It's true! If you went back 10 years and told everyone that Uncharted and God of War would be bigger than Halo and Gears of War you'd be laughed off the Internet.
Like you say, Sony's games got a lot of critical acclaim last generation, but they weren't big sellers at all.
@Knuckles-Fajita yeah I know. I am still suprised it beat God of war, but to be honest I am not too sure if I preferred spiderman more or not. GOW had a killer story but for some reason Spiderman was just a blast to play.
@get2sammyb I think almost every other record though. Hears to hoping it lives up to the hype!
@beemo yeah but those boss fights? They were so tasty in GOW plus the feels. Yeah I know a lot of casual gamers who picked up spiderman cause they love the franchise
I think God of War is a better game than Spider-Man, but it's easy to see why the latter is selling so well. He's one of the biggest characters in popular culture. Kratos is a big deal, but he's got nothing on Spidey.
That Spider-Man stat about outselling every other Spider-Man game in first month sales tells you everything you need to know about why exclusives matter.
Back at that amazing E3 in 2016, everyone came away talking about God of War, Resi 7, Death Stranding and Horizon but make no mistake about how huge of a deal that was with Spider-Man. It was a hell of a coup on Sony's part to get that franchise, people instantly were hyped cos now a beloved comic book character was been handled by a publisher and developer with big reputations for making high quality games.
Very impressive, and completely deserving.
Congrats to sony and insomniac
2 out of the top 3 are PlayStation exclusives. That's pretty neat. Everyone at Santa Monica and Insomniac games deserve it.
thats amazing playstation is the g.o.a.t.congratulation to spiderman new york city represent.word up son
I feel like Insomniac's already working on Spider-man 2.
Also, kudos to MHW for making it into the top 10!
Not surprised given the hype and the great reviews Spider-Man received. Funny there were some people who legitimately thought it was going to flop.
Fifth year on the market, still selling gangbusters and home to so many amazing exclusive and 3rd party experiences, the PS4 is like the PS2 reincarnate.
Insomniac is an awesome studio, I'm really happy for them and Sony. Spider-Man delivered a great experience.
PS4 is also having an amazing year: Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, Detroit and Spider-Man. It's always important to mention PSVR and games like Astro Bot, Firewall, etc.
Sony keep winning with exclusives.
@AdamNovice "But, but, but exclusives R not important and only fuel the console warz!!!"
I wonder if these people still exist.
I wonder how many copies sold by far cry 5 worldwide probably over 9 million
Pizza time
This is the year of Sony. God of War and Spider-Man will battle for the game of the year award. And I am saying this even when RDR2 is comming.
Glad to see that single player, campaign and story focused games are as strong as ever this year, despite estimations of some companies that these games won't exist anymore as big budget productions.
Red Dead 2 as well - people are excited for its campaign mode.
Not a surprise.
PS4 Has the best game line-up in 2018 by a mile. It is just on fire - good times.
@dark_knightmare2
Indeed. Funnily there are still people who believe the narrative that PS4 is selling so well because the xbox one reveal was a fail..
I notice ps4 slim 1T is the top selling altogether (in dollars and units) while the X is the xbox top selling. Not sure what to think of it with the next gen in mind though haha
@get2sammyb
'I think God of War is a better game than Spider-Man,'
Thats debatable opinion though. I think they are just very different games. It's like saying uncharted 4 is a better game than Horizon.
@LN78
Thats what I also think but with 2020 launch more because of component availability for mass production than any other reason.
@get2sammyb I've got to say I had Spiderman nailed on as my GOTY so far but then I bought God of War in the sale and now I'm not so sure as that is truly an outstanding game so far.
When I think of my favourite games on PS4 almost every one is an exclusive such as the 2 above, Horizon, Uncharted 4, TLOU, Ratchet and Clank, Yakuza 0 and Persona 5, although I suspect Red Dead Redemption 2 will probably join that list as the exception.
As for Spiderman, some iffy side quests aside it has a great main story, excellent combat that exceeds the Arkham games and without question the best traversal system of any open world game
@Kidfried Exactly the opposite, I don't understand how you looked at the tables. The sports games are both single and multi. They all have proper campaign mode and multi was there anyway in the last 25 years, except it used to be local multi and now they're online too.
So sports games aside, there are only 2 games which are proper multi - Destiny 2 and Call Of Duty. It's those sort of games that EA and others predicted will be the only big budget games. Yet we keep seeing that games with a proper campaign still have very strong sales.
Congrats! Great year for PlayStation.
I can honestly see TLOU2 beating the record. TLOU Remastered continues to chart to this day & that’s already at 17million + (PS3/4).
TLOU2 will also launch to a bigger install base (100-110million?) & will likely be the PS4s swan song.
GTAV still charting after all this time. One of these days I’ll play the game and see what the hype is about. It’s the only GTAV (since III) I’ve not played.
@JJ2 Well yeah, just my opinion. I like them both.
How Marvel-ous
@get2sammyb @Kidfried THIS. This is exactly why i love Sony. They invested in quality exclusives last gen even though they had fallen out of favour with the wider gaming community. I am still 100% convinced that Sony were successful out of the gate with PS4 because gamers on other platforms saw exclusive after exclusive after exclusive coming out on ps3, whereas there was limited exclusive content available on their platform of choice. Sony have rewarded that support by continuing with what they do best. Quality exclusive software, and not being distracted by the vocal minority on the internet.
Even so, its insane how sales have grown for Sony. It truly is remarkable, and i hope they remember why moving into the next generation.
As for Sammy's comment, i also agree god of war edges Spiderman, and that is no disservice to the quality offered by insomniacs title. But i would not be surprised if spiderman becomes Sony's biggest seller of all time, simply due to the brand recognition the character brings outside of the gaming world.
Here is hoping they re release the pro system lol.
great news & deserved!!!
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