One of the biggest beneficiaries of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been the video game industry, which registered its biggest ever April in the United States last month. Consumer spend reached an eye-watering $1.5 billion, which is up a whopping 73 per cent year-over-year, as families find new ways to keep them entertained inside.
Hardware spending increased a dizzying 163 per cent, with the Nintendo Switch in particular securing the highest “year-to-date dollar sales” for any system in US history. Accessory sales are also up, with the DualShock 4 being the best-selling pad on the market, perhaps as people look for new ways to play together.
Final Fantasy VII Remake topped the software charts for the month, making it the best-selling game of 2020 on the PlayStation 4 platform – and a record launch for the franchise in terms of both units and dollar sales. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the remastered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 both secured strong chart positions.
In other news, Predator: Hunting Grounds managed to debut in 15th position, while MLB The Show 20 continued to sell well – in spite of the postponement of the baseball season. We’ve included all of the relevant software charts below. Have you been spending more money on games of late? Let us know in the comments section below.
NPD Software Top 20: April 2020
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- NBA 2K20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Resident Evil 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered
- MLB The Show 20
- Madden NFL 20
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Just Dance 2020
- FIFA 20
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Borderlands 3
- Predator: Hunting Grounds
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- Persona 5: Royal
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
NPD PS4 Software Top 10: April 2020
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- NBA 2K20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- MLB: The Show 20
- Resident Evil 3
- Predator: Hunting Grounds
- Madden NFL 20
- Persona 5: Royal
- Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
NPD Best Selling Games of 2020 So Far
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- NBA 2K20
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- MLB: The Show 20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Resident Evil 3
- Madden NFL 20
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
* Digital sales not included
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 5
Happy to see FF7R lead the pack. Haven’t played it yet (but I did buy it). I’m a little surprised that the annualized sports games haven’t seemed to take a hit by the leagues not having games for the last 2 months. Also, Borderlands 3 makes a resurgence, so I guess putting it on sale constantly has made a difference
Are actual NPD sales figures behind a paywall or something?
Mostly at homes, suddenly I found way more time for playing games
@Arugula Yeah, people are hungry for sports, that much is clear. ESPN and FoxSports is showing reruns of classic game series, the Michael Jordan documentary has been wildly successful.
But with the sports video games, they are so dependent on being currently updated that I suspected that without ongoing data on who’s hot and who’s struggling that people would lose interest and play other games instead. Not to mention the automatic juggernaut of the constant advertising of the sports games by the ubiquitous presence of the dozens of games being played everyday on TV, radio, and the internet, and now that is gone for the last 2+ months. I expected a phenomenon kinda like how Madden sales come to a screeching halt in February after the Super Bowl and last year’s game never sells again, but the new one that is up to date and current sells like hot cakes 7 months later because it’s got updated information.
I just always figured people who buy those games want current info in their game. Obviously I’ve misjudged the people that buy those.
Glad FF7R is doing well. It's not perfect, but it's a lovely, highly ambitious remake, and the first S-E JRPG I've played in years that reminds me of their golden years, when they were regularly churning out big budget, amazing JRPGs.
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