NPD August 2019 Report: August Software Sales Hit a 20-Year Low

The August 2019 NPD 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 $666 million which was down 18% when compared to $812 million the market made in August 2018. Hardware spending was down a lot this past month coming in at $167 million which is down 22% when compared to $214 million in August 2018. Software spending across consoles and PC was $257 million which was down 24% from the $341 million the market made in August 2018. What is more astonishing is that the $257 million software sale number this past month was the lowest for any August in 20 years dating back to August 1998.

The Nintendo Switch was once again the best selling hardware for the month of August 2019 both in unit sales and dollar sales. It is still the best selling console year-to-date and also the only console to have sales gains both in August and on the year.

The software charts for August once again had Madden NFL 20 take the top spot repeating its place at the top it had in the July charts. This is the seventh year a Madden game has been the best selling game in August is it is also now the third best selling game of 2019.

The second best selling game of the month was Minecraft which also happens to be the highest spot it has ever appeared in the charts. Nintendo continues to dominate the software charts too as it had 5 of the top 10 selling games and had a total of 9 games in the top 20. There were a few new releases in August such as Astral Chain which took the No.10 spot. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan from Bandai Namco came in at No.19 despite only being on sale two days. Sadly Control from Remedy Entertainment didn’t place in the top 20 in its launch month.

Below you can see the full top 20 selling games for the month of August 2019 as well as the top 10 selling games on each platform, the top 10 selling games of 2019 year-to-date and the top 1o selling games over the past 12 months.

SOFTWARE

1. Madden NFL 20**
2. Minecraft***
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Super Mario Maker 2*
7. Mario Kart 8*
8. Mortal Kombat 11
9. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
10. Astral Chain*
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man
12. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
13. Red Dead Redemption II
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
15. Age of Wonders: Planetfall
16. Super Mario Party*
17. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
19. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
20. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but not other digital sales.

The rest of the software charts
The 10 best-selling games of 2019 so far

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Kingdom Hearts III
3. Madden NFL 20**
4. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
5. Anthem**
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
7. Resident Evil 2 2019
8. Grand Theft Auto V
9. Red Dead Redemption II
10. Days Gone

Top 10 best-selling games over the last 12 months

1. Red Dead Redemption II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
3. NBA 2K19
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man
6. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
7. Mortal Kombat 11
8. FIFA 19**
9. Madden NFL 19**
10. Battlefield V**

Xbox One

1. Madden NFL 20
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Minecraft
4. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Mortal Kombat 11
7. Forza Horizon 4
8. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
9. Overwatch
10. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

PlayStation 4

1. Madden NFL 20
2. Minecraft
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Marvel’s Spider-Man
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
6. Mortal Kombat 11
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. Days Gone
9. MLB 19: The Show
10. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

Nintendo Switch

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
3. Super Mario Maker 2*
4. Mario Kart 8*
5. Astral Chain*
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
7. Super Mario Party*
8. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
9. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
10. Minecraft*

Nintendo 3DS

1. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
2. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
3. Super Mario Maker*
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
5. Super Mario 3D Land*
6. Super Smash Bros.*
7. Mario Kart 7*
8. Detective Pikachu*
9. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth*
10. Animal Crossing: New Leaf*