The November 2018 NPD numbers are in and the video game industry had another really good month especially in some areas.
Total spending for the month was $2,693 million which was pretty flat year-on-year. One of the big reasons why spending most likely wasn’t higher was due to Call of Duty shifting to October this year versus November when it usually launches.
In terms of Hardware, all three of the big console makers had an excellent November. The PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch all sold over 1.3 million units in the month. This is the first time in history that three console platforms have sold over 1 million units in a single month. It is only the second time in history that three platforms sold over a million the last being November 2010 when the Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS achieved this. In terms of the overall leader for the month it was the Nintendo Switch that that lead in dollar sales.
In terms of the best selling games of the month it was Red Dead Redemption 2 that sold best in November although it is still trailing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in total sales for the year. Black Ops 4 was the second best selling game of the month and remains the best selling game of 2018 currently. It is also the second fastest selling game on the PS4 and Xbox One trailing only Call of Duty WWII that launched last year.
Fallout 76 was the fourth best selling game of the month despite the poor reviews and controversy surrounding the title. It will be interesting to watch how this one sells going forward. Spyro Reignited Trilogy came in at #9 for the month and had 30% higher launch month dollar sales than the combined launch month sales of all other Spyro games in history. You can view the full top 20 selling titles below.
RANKINGS (November 2018)
Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel, ranked on dollar sales
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII^
- Battlefield V^
- Fallout 76*
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
- NBA 2K19
- Madden NFL 19^
- Spyro Reignited Trilogy
- FIFA 19^
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Super Mario Party*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Mario Kart 8*
- WWE 2K19
- God of War 2018
- Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
- Just Dance 2019
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Forza Horizon 4
* Digital sales not included
^ PC digital sales not included
