January 2020 NPD saw Super Smash Bros. Ultimate take the lead on Switch
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It's a slow start to 2020 with sales numbers down compared to this time last year.
What you need to know
- The January 2020 NPD report has been released.
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot was the best-selling game of the month on PlayStation 4 and overall.
- The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of the month.
Every month, the NPD Group releases information on the top-selling games across all video game platforms in the United States. While it doesn't account for worldwide sales, it does provide a good snapshot of one the largest video game markets. Mat Piscatella, an analyst for NPD, has shared the results for December 2020. For this month, data was tracked from January 5, 2019 through February 1, 2020.
This month is off to a slow start, with console and software sales down. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot was the best-selling game of the month, while 2019's top game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, managed to hold at the #2 spot. Grand Theft Auto V, the best-selling game of the decade in the U.S, also placed impressively at the #5 spot. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the best-selling game on Nintendo Switch, was the #7 best-seller for the month. The Nintendo Switch, to what should be no one's surprise, was the best-selling console of January 2020 in both unit sales and dollar sales.
Here are the numbers for the January 2020 NPD results:
- Total: $678 million, down 26% year-over-year from $918 million
- Video games hardware: $129 million, down 35% year-over-year from $199 million
- PC and video games software: $311 million, down 31% from $451 million
- Accessories and game cards: $238 million, down 11% year-over-year from $268 million
Here are the January 2020 game sales rankings (based on dollar sales, not units):
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- Madden NFL 20
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NBA 2K20
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Minecraft***
- Pokemon Sword*
- Luigi's Mansion 3*
- Star Wars: Battlefront II 2017
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Need for Speed: Heat
- FIFA 20
- Just Dance 2020
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Pokemon Shield*
- *Does not include digital sales
- **Does not include Steam sales
- ***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but not other digital sales.
Here are the best-selling games of January 2020 by platform:
Nintendo Switch
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Pokemon Sword*
- Luigi's Mansion 3*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Pokemon Shield*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Party*
- Just Dance 2020
PlayStation 4
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- Madden NFL 20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- NBA 2K20
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Minecraft
- FIFA 20
- Red Dead Redemption II
Xbox One
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- Madden NFL 20
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- NBA 2K20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Star Wars: Battlefront II 2017
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Need for Speed: Heat
- FIFA 20
That's all for the breakdown of this month's numbers. For more information, you can consult Mat Piscatella's thread right here. If you'd like details on last month's NPD breakdown, you can find that right here.
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had the biggest roster for the series to date upon release, and it just keeps getting bigger. Banjo & Kazooie are both now available in it, and Nintendo announced that Fatal Fury's Terry will be joining them next.
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