FIFA 21 Debuts in First on the US Charts in October, Nintendo has Strong Month - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 13 November 2020 / 3,380 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in October 2020 selling 735,926 units, outselling the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in terms of units sold and total dollars, according to figures from NPD. October NPD includes the dates for October 4 through October 31.
The Switch has been the best-selling console for 23 consecutive months, since December 2018, which is the longest streak since NPD started tracking sales numbers.
Overall spending on hardware increased 41 percent year-on-year to $259 million in October. Year-to-date spending has increased by 23 percent to $2.54 billion. Spending on video game content increased 12 percent year-over-year to $3.43 billion. Year-to-date spending has increased by 23 percent to 33.20 billion.
Overall spending on video games increased 14 percent to $3.84 billion in September. Year-to-date spending has increased by 20 percent to $37.50 billion.
"Consumer spending across video game hardware, content, and accessories reached $3.8 billion in October 2020, 14% higher when compared to a year ago," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. "Mobile, subscription, hardware, and accessories were among the largest growth segments. Year-to-date spending totaled $37.5 billion, 20% higher than the same period in 2019."
Nintendo accounted for nine of the top 20 best-selling games in October, while EA sports game - FIFA 21, Madden NFL 21, and NHL 21 - took three of the top four spots.
FIFA 21 debuted in first place on the NPD charts for October 2020. This is the first time a game in the FIFA franchise has debuted in first place in the US.
"FIFA 21 was the best-selling game of October, the first time a FIFA franchise release has launched at No. 1 in the U.S. market," said Piscatella. "FIFA 21 was the best-selling game of October on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms."
Watch Dogs Legion debuted in third place, despite only being available for the last three days of the month.
"Watch Dogs Legion debuted as the third best-selling game of October, despite having only three days of sales tracking in the month," said Piscatella."Watch Dogs Legion was the second best-selling game of the month on Xbox platforms, and third best-selling game of the month on PlayStation platforms."
NHL 21 debuted in fourth place and launch sales in terms of revenue are the highest since NHL 16 launched in September 2015.
"NHL 21 entered the charts as the fourth best-selling game of October," said Piscatella. "Launch month dollar sales were the highest for an NHL release since the September 2015 launch of NHL 16."
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit debuted in fifth place and was the best-selling Nintendo game.
"Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit ranked as the fifth best-selling game of October, and was the best-selling game on Nintendo platforms," said Piscatella.
Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for October 2020:
| All Platforms | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | October 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 | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 3 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | NEW | Watch Dogs: Legion | Ubisoft |
| 4 | NEW | NHL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | NEW | Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit | Nintendo |
| 6 | 2 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 8 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 9 | Star Wars: Squadrons | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | 6 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 10 | 11 | Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 11 | 10 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 12 | 12 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 13 | 5 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 14 | 1 | Marvel’s Avengers | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 15 | 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 16 | 13 | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo |
| 17 | 17 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 18 | 4 | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 19 | 20 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| 20 | 16 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
Here are the lists of top 10 selling games by platform for the month:
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games for October2020
| Rank | Last Month Rank | October 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit | Nintendo |
| 2 | 1 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* | Nintendo |
| 3 | 2 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 3 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 5 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 4 | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo |
| 7 | 7 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 9 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 6 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 10 | NEW | Pikmin 3* | Nintendo |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling PlayStation 4 games for October 2020
| Rank | Last Month Rank | October 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 3 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | NEW | Watch Dogs: Legion | Ubisoft |
| 4 | 5 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | NEW | NHL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 7 | Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 7 | 6 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 8 | 8 | Star Wars: Squadrons | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | 4 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 10 | 1 | Marvel’s Avengers | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling Xbox One games for October 2020
| Rank | Last Month Rank | October 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | NEW | Watch Dogs: Legion | Ubisoft |
| 3 | 2 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | NEW | NHL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | 6 | Star Wars: Squadrons | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 5 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 7 | 8 | Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 8 | 4 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 9 | 1 | Marvel’s Avengers | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 10 | 3 | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling games of 2020 through October 2020
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Year-to-Date Ending October 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 | 4 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 3 | The Last of Us: Part II | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | 5 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 6 | 6 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 7 | 7 | Marvel’s Avengers | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 8 | 10 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 11 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 8 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| * Digital sales not included |
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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