The August 2020 NPD sales report for the US video game market is in and we have all the details about what the top selling hardware and software for the month were.
Total spending for the month reached $3.3 billion which was up 37% from what the market made in August 2019. Hardware spending came out to $229 million in August 2020 which is up 37% when compared to August 2019. The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform of August in both units and spending. The Switch also set a new US August hardware dollar sales record which was previously set by the Nintendo Wii back in August 2008.
Software spending was very good in August and was led by Madden NFL 21 in the No.1 spot. Dollar sales saw a double-digit increase when compared to the release of Madden NFL 20. Madden NFL 21 instantly becomes the No.6 best-selling game of 2020. This is also the 21st consecutive year that a Madden NFL game was the best-selling game in the month it released.
Another sports game took the No.2 spot with that being EA’s UFC 4. It managed to set a new franchise launch month sales record for the publisher. It was the third best-selling game of August on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Ghost of Tsushima, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons round out the top five. One other notable callout is that Final Fantasy VII Remake managed to make it back into the top 20 after seeing a sales promotion.
Below you can see the full top 20 selling games for the month of August 2020 as well as the top 10 selling games on each platform, and the top ten selling games over the past 12 months.
Top 20 Best-Selling Games of August 2020
| All Platforms | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | August 2020 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | NEW | UFC 4 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 4 | 1 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | 5 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 6 | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo |
| 7 | 8 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 9 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 3 | Paper Mario: The Origami King* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 7 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 11 | 12 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 12 | 4 | The Last of Us: Part II | Sony (Corp) |
| 13 | 11 | Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 14 | NEW | PGA Tour 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 15 | 14 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 16 | 27 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| 17 | 13 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege | Ubisoft |
| 18 | 26 | Super Mario Odyssey* | Nintendo |
| 19 | 41 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 20 | 34 | Luigi’s Mansion 3* | Nintendo |
Top 10 games of 2020 to date:
| All Platforms | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Year-to-Date Ending August 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | 2 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 3 | 3 | The Last of Us: Part II | Sony (Corp) |
| 4 | 4 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 5 | 5 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 6 | NEW | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | 6 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 8 | 7 | MLB: The Show 20 | Sony (Corp) |
| 9 | 9 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 10 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
Top 10 games over the last 12 months
| All Platforms | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | 12 Months Ending August 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | 3 | Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | 2 | Madden NFL 20 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 4 | NBA 2K20* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 5 | 5 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 6 | The Last of Us: Part II | Sony (Corp) |
| 7 | 7 | FIFA 20 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | 8 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 9 | Pokemon: Sword* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 10 | Luigi’s Mansion 3* | Nintendo |
Top 10 Xbox One games in August 2020
| Rank | Last Month Rank | August 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 1 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 3 | NEW | UFC 4 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 7 | Forza Horizon 4 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 5 | 4 | Minecraft: Xbox One Edition | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 6 | 10 | Call of Duty: Black Ops III | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 7 | 15 | Grounded | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 8 | NEW | PGA Tour 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 9 | 6 | Rainbow Six: Siege [Tom Clancy’s] | Ubisoft |
| 10 | 2 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 PS4 games in August 2020
| PlayStation 4 | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | August 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 1 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 3 | NEW | UFC 4 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 3 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 5 | 2 | The Last of Us: Part II | Sony (Corp) |
| 6 | 4 | Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 7 | 14 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 8 | 5 | MLB: The Show 20 | Sony (Corp) |
| 9 | 7 | Marvel’s Spider-Man | Sony (Corp) |
| 10 | NEW | PGA Tour 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 Nintendo Switch games in August 2020
| Nintendo Switch | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | August 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 2 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 2 | 3 | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo |
| 3 | 4 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 5 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 1 | Paper Mario: The Origami King* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 6 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 7 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 9 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 8 | Super Mario Odyssey* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 12 | Luigi’s Mansion 3* | Nintendo |
| * Digital sales not included |
