MLB The Show 21’s inclusion with Game Pass didn’t hinder full-price sales anywhere near as much as expected, as the game topped the April 2021 NPD best-sellers list, setting a new series record in the process. It’s worth noting that this was the first entry in the baseball simulation to also release on Xbox platforms, broadening its audience significantly.
It wasn’t the only new PlayStation Studios title to chart, however: PS5 exclusive Returnal managed to climb up to eighth position, despite only having its sales tracked for a single day. That’s a decent result, all things considered. It Takes Two also saw its fortunes improve month-over-month – it finished ninth in April 2021, despite being 22nd in its debut month of March 2021.
Overall, the United States industry experienced a small decline of two per cent year-over-year – presumably because lockdowns were in full swing this time in 2020. Hardware sales fell 30 per cent, although restricted stock of next-gen consoles is certainly not helping on that front. For April 2021, total spend reached $4.6 billion across all categories.
NPD Software Top 20: April 2021
- MLB The Show 21^
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- New Pokémon Snap*
- Outriders
- NieR Replicant
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Returnal
- It Takes Two
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Super Mario 3D World*
- Minecraft
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate*
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Pokémon Sword/Shield*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
NPD PS5, PS4 Software: April 2021
- MLB The Show 21
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Returnal
- Outriders
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- NieR Replicant
- Mortal Kombat 11
- It Takes Two
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Ghost of Tsushima
NPD Best-Selling Games of 2021
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Super Mario 3D World*
- MLB The Show 21^
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Outriders
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Mario Kart 8*
- Minecraft
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
* Digital sales not included
^ Xbox digital sales not included
[source twitter.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 25
I’m glad Returnal is doing well it’s a really amazing game.
wow, was not expecting MLB The Show to be that strong... no wonder that MLB "forced" the multiplattform thing...
Glad to see Returnal doing fine. Same for Mortal Kombat 11 - it's been on sale half the time this year but a 2 year old fighting game staying in top 10 is pretty amazing.
Glad to see more folks trying Returnal it's my GOTY. MLB being played by more gamers is always a good thing.
Glad to see Returnal not getting the top spot after releasing with realistically 5 hours of gameplay at 70 dollars
**Hides under bridge
Glad returnal and nier seem to be doing well. Loving returnal! Can't say that nier was my favorite game or anything, but its unique and I like that a project like that is getting attention.
I personally didn't like Returnal, but I'm happy for Housemarque.
@ILikeStake
Interesting that 2 of the top 5 games are available on gamepass. Getting presumably a large upfront sum of money and still chart that high. Crazy!
@ILikeStake You know MLB The Show has the top spot, in which a game only lasts 30 minutes.😂
@Jayslow you got to remember ain’t that many people who actually own Xbox’s.
Happy for returnal, I hope housemarque can make better dan bigger games, hopefully like returnal but in metroidvania genre 😃
And that's not a slight against MLB at all. Many games constantly offer the same gameplay loop; as long as they're well made and fun, there's not a problem at all with that. Assassin's Creed Odyssey has a huge world, but it's core gameplay loop was so repetitive, that I found more variety in my runs during Returnal.
Most of all: congrats Housemarque and Sony, for bringing such a special game to life!
@ILikeStake
To be honest, 5 hours in I probably only just defeated the first boss!
Great that Returnal is up there and happy for Housemarque that what must have been a huge risk for them as paid off. It's an awesome game that I've had from day 1 and it's still providing plenty of entertainment. Hope that Sony continue to partner with them to produce many more amazing experiences.
@Yinx Comment was totally tongue in cheek with a reference to the gameplay being short but the difficulty turned up to make the experience longer. Honestly, I am happy to see a game like Returnal in the top ten, it's better than another run of the mill shooter or ubisoft open worlder. Unique games selling well is a good thin regardless of how you/I/anyone feels about this one in particular.
@Kidfried haha...yeah and Returnal doesn't try to sell you card packs
Little Nightmares 2's absence from the list saddens me, it was fairly priced AND a Multiplat, and still didn't make the cut. God I hate when actual GOOD games get overlooked in favor of milked to death franchises like Call of Duty & Assassins Creed.
@ILikeStake The difficulty is on par, even slightly easier, than most Housemarque games. So I wouldn't say that assesment is true.
Do my eyes deceive me?!? No sign of GTAV in the top 20? It truly is the end of days.
Glad returnal made the list hopefully more people pick it up. At the moment it's probably my game of the year although I'm still yet to beat it currently stuck in the 5th biome and it's kicking my arse lol, don't quite know why as up to this point it's been hard but nothing that you don't feel you can pass, but the 5th for some reason is bloody hard lol, going to keep at it and hopefully get past it soon. I have resi but haven't touched it since the first night as returnal has me properly hooked, so it will have to wait till I beat returnal lol
glad returnal is doing well. great game. finally got my platinum on it!
Good start for Returnal and the inevitable future sales should help it get to even more people. Hopefully it means Housemarque getting to work on even more bigger budget games going forward.
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