Nintendo Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in December, Cyberpunk 2077 Debuts in 2nd - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 February 2021 / 3,646 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in December 2020, according to figures from NPD. November NPD includes the dates for November 29 through January 2. Sales for the Switch basically flat year-over-year with a slight uptick. The console sold 2.036 million units in December 2019.
The Switch has been the best-selling console for 25 consecutive months, since December 2018, which is the longest streak since NPD started tracking sales numbers.
"Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars not only in December 2020, but the entire year," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. "Annual dollar sales of Nintendo Switch hardware were the second-highest for an individual platform in a single calendar year in U.S. history. Only the 2008 dollar sales of Nintendo Wii were higher."
Overall spending on video games increased 25 percent year-over-year from $6.18 billion to $7.70 billion in December 2020. Overall spending on hardware increased 38 percent year-on-year to $1.35 billion in December. Spending on video game content increased 23 percent year-over-year to $5.81 billion.
"December 2020 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories reached a December record $7.7 billion, 25% higher when compared to a year ago," Piscatella said. "Full-year spending also set a new record, totaling $56.9 billion, 27% higher than 2019."
Nintendo accounted for half of the top 20 best-selling games in December.
"Half of the top 20 best-selling games of December 2020 were published by Nintendo," said Piscatella. "Animal Crossing: New Horizons was 2020’s third best-selling title, and the sixth best-selling game of December."
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War remained in first place on the NPD charts for December 2020. It is the best-selling game in 2020. This is the 12th year in a row a Call of Duty title was the best-selling game in the US.
"Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War was the best-selling game of both December and annual 2020, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was 2020’s second best-seller,” said Piscatella. "Call of Duty ranked as the best-selling gaming franchise in the U.S. market for a record 12th consecutive year."
Cyberpunk 2077 debuted in second place despite its technical issues on last-generation consoles.
Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for December 2020:
| Rank | Last Month Rank | December 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 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | NEW | Cyberpunk 2077* | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | 2 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 4 | 3 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | 4 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 8 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 11 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 5 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 9 | NEW | Immortals: Fenyx Rising | Ubisoft |
| 10 | 12 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* | Nintendo |
| 11 | 17 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 12 | 13 | Just Dance 2021 | Ubisoft |
| 13 | 6 | Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity* | Nintendo |
| 14 | 9 | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 15 | 14 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 16 | 34 | Super Mario Odyssey* | Nintendo |
| 17 | 23 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 18 | 35 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| 19 | 26 | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo |
| 20 | 19 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo games for December 2020:
| Rank | Last Month Rank | December 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 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 3 | 4 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 9 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 1 | Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 6 | Just Dance 2021 | Ubisoft |
| 7 | 5 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 14 | Super Mario Odyssey* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 10 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 15 | Super Mario Party* | Nintendo |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling PlayStation games for December 2020:
| Rank | Last Month Rank | December 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | 2 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 3 | NEW | Cyberpunk 2077* | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 4 | 3 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 5 | 4 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 6 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 7 | 9 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 8 | 7 | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | NEW | Immortals: Fenyx Rising | Ubisoft |
| 10 | 5 | Demon’s Souls | Sony (Corp) |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 best-selling Xbox One games for December 2020:
| Rank | Last Month Rank | December 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | NEW | Cyberpunk 2077* | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | 2 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 4 | 3 | Madden NFL 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | 5 | NBA 2K21* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 6 | NEW | Immortals: Fenyx Rising | Ubisoft |
| 7 | 6 | FIFA 21 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | 4 | Watch Dogs: Legion | Ubisoft |
| 9 | 8 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 10 | 11 | Forza Horizon 4 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| * 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.
