July 2021 NPD: MLB The Show 21 Is the Second Best-Selling Game of 2021

Really nice to see Monster Hunter Stories 2 performing well.

Switch is on fire worldwide.

So the game that was included with Gamepass has been the 2nd best "selling" game of the year so far?

So GP didn't hurt sales then? 🤷

@rjejr Goes to show how much of an impact GP really has. It's great for many gamers (I may get it on PC), but Sony actually doesn't need an answer for it.

@rjejr its low on xbox chart

Wait... you mean our Top 20 is not all on 1 hardware or "catered" for Western gamers? Crazy!!!!!! 🙃😉

Loved MH Stories 2... but no F1 (Thanks UK for saving the day)

RE: Village, MLB The Show, Valhalla and MH: Rise all still in the top 10 for 2021 👍

@rjejr It basically incrased the player base.

If you only have a PS it does not matter MLB is on GamePass. Just like if you only have a Switch it does not matter Hades is on GamePass.

You just go and buy it on what you have.

@naruball @Amppari @Agramonte

Does seem like Xbox owners still bought the game even though they simply could have just played it w/ their paid subscription.

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/06/sonys_mlb_the_show_21_has_been_a_massive_success_on_xbox_game_pass

I was really just pointing out how this article might have been a tad overblown with it's concern.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/reaction_sony_said_xbox_game_pass_isnt_sustainable_then_released_one_of_its_tentpole_titles_into_the_service_anyway

For the record, I've always felt like Sony should have put the game on either PS Now or PS+ to counter the optics of it being included w/ a Gamepass subscription on Xbox. As it turns out, a lot of handwringing over apparently nothing, but there was a lot of handwringing and bad sentiment at Sony's expense, at the time they were also dealing from fallout about "generations" w/ several PS5 games also now releasing on PS4. And stock shortages.

Not a great looking or feeling year for Sony but if they've weathered this year things should really be looking up next year when the games and hopefully the PS5 stock comes.

Would be nice to see the Show come to PS Plus but sounds like there's no incentive whatsoever on Sony's/MLB's part to do so when the money is still coming in.

I say that as someone who has never played a baseball game, btw. It sure would beat this month's disaster.

Is Mario Kart 8 being sold as a bundle or something? How does that game keep charting after all these years?! Goodness gracious. It is awesome though. Can't front on that.

@rjejr

"Does seem like Xbox owners still bought the game even though they simply could have just played it w/ their paid subscription"

You see that on PC also. Games that are on GamePass will be on the Steam top 10 list.

And not just GamePass.

People still bought Assassin Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising on PC even when you can just get UBI+ that includes both the Game + Season Pass for $15

Subscriptions are just 1 more option to pick from every month.

@Agramonte Never heard ofUbi+, I'll have to look into it. Bought the $100 version of Fenyx Immortals for my kid, played the 2nd DLC and the first 1/3 of the game. 😝

Maybe I'll play it someday.

@rjejr

https://store.ubi.com/us/ubisoftplus

You get the Premium Edition if via Ubi+. How I played Fenyx and WatchDog Legion (and playing FarCry 6 next)

@rjejr Defining Duke had an interview with Mike Rose as did Nintendo life, I believed it was mentioned in both. There is often an uptick in sales of GP titles; at least multi-player which is attributed to the friend purchasing a copy to play with.

@Amppari the Xbox chart doesn’t include Digital.

NPD presents interesting stats, and I realize that they're more privy to information than we are, but with the way things are categorized now...engagement, attachment rate, current subscribers...hell, that makes any job easy. Pick the best metric that paints the rosiest picture and ignore the rest...like consoles sold. Consoles schmonsoles. FOUR BILLION HOURS OF ENGAGEMENT! Awesome. I contributed 8 last night when I fell asleep at the console. Congrats!

@mousieone "attributed to the friend purchasing a copy to play with."

I can see that, lot's of those games on there. I would also imagine some people w/ GP buy it b/c it's on sale for them and they do seem to come off after awhile. Looking at the GP on PC games a lot of them are discounted for members.

@Agramonte Thanks for the link, I mentioned it to my kid. Thankfully I only paid $5 FIVE for the game as I had a $50 Playstation credit card promotion and the $100 version was on sale for $50. So I still spent my credit, but I couldn't really find anything else I wanted so $5 out of pocket seemed good. My kid said they'll start back up when we're done watching Witcher on Netflix next week.

@Rafie I LOVE Mario Kart 8 but I'm as baffled as you. GTA V keeps selling because of the fact they bundle a ton of currency with new purchases of the game. It's actually cheaper in some instances than buying the currency in-game. I have a friend who's obsessed with GTA online and he's bought several copies of the game just to get the cheap money in game.

But Mario Kart 8....I have no clue how it keeps selling.

@naruball I think at some point Sony will need an answer for it. As the Xbox first party exclusives start to grow over the next few years the difference in offerings will become more obvious.

All first party games available day one for the price of a GPU subscription will be even more impressive as this gen develops.

GamePass does seem to convert into actual sales (both physical and digital). For me, I've played lots of games that I would never have thought of trying and have then ended up buying them.

@rjejr You do forget that Sony is a chokehold and has to fund the game.

@Flaming_Kaiser "You do forget that Sony is a chokehold and has to fund the game."

1. Game sold very well on Xbox despite being on Gamepass. ie maybe it still sells very well despite being on PS+ or Now b/c not everyone has those?

"MLB The Show 21 was the "#1 selling paid game on Xbox for the month of April," proving that Game Pass titles can still sell in very high numbers."

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/06/sonys_mlb_the_show_21_has_been_a_massive_success_on_xbox_game_pass

2. People PAY for PS+ and PS Now. Just b/c people are constantly incorrectly saying the games are" free" doesn't mean the games are actually "free", any more than Amazon Prime 2 day shipping is "free". Both Now and + are paid rental services similar to Gamepass, maybe if Sony puts the show on 1 or both of them some people pay the fee to rent the game, thus helping to fund the game.

Will be interesting to see how it plays out next year since we know this is an annual title and all eyes will be watching to see if Sony blinks.

@__jamiie "I think at some point Sony will need an answer for it. As the Xbox first party exclusives start to grow over the next few years the difference in offerings will become more obvious."

The difference won't matter because at the end of the day, the battle between Sony and MS for this generation has already been won. The average consumer buys what everyone else is buying/the "cool" console to own, not what's best value for them.

Of course, I could be wrong. We'll see. But if you look at trends, unless something huge happens (like psn being unavailable for a year or something), Sony has it in the bag.

@rjejr they can be played at no additional cost, so in that sense, they're free, just like getting a free massage when you book at a certain hotel/ when you pay entrance fee to a club and then get a free drink. The meaning of a word depends on the context.

@naruball I agree to an extent. People will buy whatever machine everyone else is buying, but I really don't think MS cares about the number of systems it sells overall. Xbox games will be available in way more places than on an Xbox console.

Also, Sony turned around the PS3/360 gen after Microsoft made an amazing start so I don't think that less than 12 months on the market is the right time to judge.

@rjejr But Sony funded the game so whats your point. They dont have any risks so what do you want to tell me? That they made profit on a game funded by Sony because Sony has no choice but comply because they have the license.

@naruball While free can certainly vary, so if you're paying for PS+ just to play online then yeah OK the games are free, but you can't say you watch free movies on Netflix b/c you are paying for the monthly subscription, not what you watch. So I'd argue with Gamepass or PS Now you can't say the games are free, you are legit paying to rent games.

I mean sure people can say the games are free, and I can say I'm President of the United States.
I don't even say my Gamepass games are free and I only paid $1 for 3 months. 🤷‍♂️

@Flaming_Kaiser I guess my point is there is more than 1 way to fund a game.

@rjejr hey, uPlay has a promotion running. one month for $1

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/4TCdJJD4a8EOxHl2H4CKGU/get-one-month-of-ubisoft-for-1

@Agramonte Thanks for the link. I think I'm going to pass for now as I have Gamepass for another month but I'm going to let my son know, he games more on PC than I do, though mostly on Steam.

Maybe when Beyond Good & Evil 2 releases. 🤣

@rjejr Well Ubi giving away farCry 3 for free on Ubi Connect. No subscription needed

https://videocardz.com/newz/far-cry-3-is-currently-free-on-ubisoft-connect-platform

While they wait for FC6

@Agramonte Thanks again. Probably going to pass on this one b/c my kids learned video games from me and we don't really play first person games. And they learned fantasy from their mom and the most modern realistic we play is say Ghost of Tsushima. Though my other kid - currently going to college majoring in video game design & development - has played all of the Uncharted games. Well maybe not Golden Abyss. 🤷‍♂️

Free is nice though. 😎