Ghost of Tsushima Topped the US Charts in July, Switch Best-Selling Console - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 September 2020 / 7,079 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in July 2020, outselling the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in terms of units sold and total dollars, according to figures from NPD.
"Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling hardware platform of both July and 2020 year-to-date in unit and dollar sales," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
Overall spending on hardware decreased two percent year-on-year to $166 million, while spending on video game content jumped 34 percent to $3.25 billion. Video game content is a new metric for NPD, which includes full game software sales, DLC, microtransactions, subscriptions, and more.
Overall spending on video games increased 32 percent to $3.59 billion. Spending on video game accessories increased 32 percent year-over-year to $170 million.
"Consumer spending across video game hardware, content, and accessories totaled $3.6 billion in July 2020, increasing 32% when compared to a year ago," said Piscatella. "Double-digit percentage spending gains in accessories, subscription, mobile, and both digital full game as well as post-launch spending on console and PC offset a slight decline in hardware."
"Year-to-date spending reached $26 billion, 21% higher than the same period in 2019," Piscatella continued. "Content, hardware, and accessory spending are each over 20% higher when compared to the same period a year ago."
Year-to-date spending on hardware has increased 22 percent when compared to the same period in 2019, to $1.8 billion.
Ghost of Tsushima was the best-selling game in July 2020 and is the fastest-selling release in the history of developer Sucker Punch. It is also the fifth best-selling game in 2020.
"Ghost of Tsushima was July’s best-selling title," said Piscatella. "Ghost of Tsushima is developer Sucker Punch Productions’ fastest-selling release in history. Ghost of Tsushima also debuts as 2020’s fifth best-selling game year-to-date."
Paper Mario: The Origami King debuted in third place in July 2020 and set a new launch sales record for the Paper Mario franchise. The previous record was held by Super Paper Mario.
"Paper Mario: The Origami King was the third-best-selling game of July," Piscatella said. "Paper Mario: The Origami King set a new launch month sales record for a Paper Mario title, with physical launch month dollar sales more than doubling those of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door."
The Last of Us Part II was the fourth best-selling game in July 2020 and remains the third best-selling game of 2020 and is the third highest-grossing Sony published game in history. It is only behind Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2018’s God of War.
"The Last of Us Part II was July’s fourth-best-selling title, and it remains the third best-selling game of 2020 year-to-date. Life-to-date dollar sales of The Last of Us Part II are now the 3rd highest for a Sony published game in history, trailing only Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2018’s God of War."
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris debuted in 10th place on the charts and is the highest-ranked release of a Sword Art Online title in history. The previous record was set by Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, which debuted in 14th place in February 2018.
"Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris debuted at No. 10 on July’s best-selling titles chart," Piscatella said. "It is the highest-ranked placement for a Sword Art Online title in history. Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet placed as the 14th best-selling title in its February 2018 launch month."
Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for July 2020:
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Paper Mario: The Origami King*
- The Last of Us: Part II
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris
- Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Rainbow Six: Siege [Tom Clancy’s]
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- MLB: The Show 20
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
* Digital sales not included
Here are the lists of top 10 selling games by platform for the month:
Top 10 best-selling Xbox One games for July 2020
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris
- Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
- Ghost Recon: Breakpoint [Tom Clancy’s]
- Rainbow Six: Siege [Tom Clancy’s]
- Forza Horizon 4
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Top 10 best-selling PlayStation 4 games for July 2020
- Ghost of Tsushima
- The Last of Us: Part II
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
- MLB: The Show 20
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games for July 2020
- Paper Mario: The Origami King*
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- Super Mario Party*
- Pokémon: Sword*
Top 10 best-selling games of 2020 through July 2020
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- The Last of Us: Part II
- Final Fantasy VII: Remake
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- MLB: The Show 20
- Resident Evil 3
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Mortal Kombat 11
Thanks, VentureBeat.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Something seems wrong with NPD's data. Where's GTA V and RDR2? Both have been top 10 monthly pretty much every month of the year and neither appear on any list, not even top 20?
Wow it goes to show that hardware is only a small fraction of videogame spending. Of course hardware sales are the basis from which software, subscriptions, and accessories sales grow (for now). Good debuts for Ghost of Tsushima and Paper Mario. Nice holds for The Last of Us Part II and Animal Crossing. Not a single third party game in the Switch top ten. The struggle to attract distinguished, timely third party releases continues.
3rd party games do sell well on Switch, of course some will do better on other platforms, but some will do better on Switch. Indie games usually sell more on Switch.
Mortal Kombat 11 was number 1 on Switch in it's debut month, and in June Just Dance and Outer Worlds were in the NPD top 10.
3rd Parties can sell well on Switch, but it's a game by game basis.
Seems like GoT is killing it everywhere.
Origami King also did better than I expected, setting a franchise record and hitting 3rd without digital. Very impressive.
it out did new horizons for the month of July in the US very impressive
Ghost of Tsushima = Game of the Year, together with Persona 5 Royal and The Last of Us 2!
Gratulation!!!
What btow is still there
