Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in April, PS5 Still Fastest-Selling Console - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 June 2021 / 4,945 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in April 2021 in terms of unit and dollar sales, according to figures from NPD. NPD includes the dates for April 4 through May 1.
The Switch has been the best-selling console for 29 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 both units and dollars during the month of April, as well as 2021 year to date," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
The PlayStation 5 is still the fastest-selling console in US history after six months.
Overall spending on video games decreased two percent year-over-year from $4.7 billion to $4.6 billion. Yaer-to-date spending increased 21 percent compared to 2020 to $19.6 billion.
"April 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories totaled $4.6 billion, a decline of 2% when compared to a year ago," said Piscatella. "Year-to-date consumer spending reached $19.6 billion, 21% higher than the first four months of 2020."
He added, "Monthly sales are now comparable to a year ago periods that were impacted by pandemic-driven consumer spending increases. April 2021 content sales boosted by mobile, subscription and post-launch content spending (DLC/MTX) on Console & PC."
Overall spending on hardware decreased 30 percent year-on-year to $296 million. However, hardware revenue is 84 percent higher than the $160 million earned in April 2019. Yaer-to-date spending increased 42 percent compared to 2020 to $1.7 billion.
Spending on video game content in April 2021 increased year-over-year from $4.1 billion to $4.2 billion. Year-to-date spending on content increased from $14.3 billion to $17.0 billion.
Spending on video game accessories dropped 23 percent to $168 million, while year-to-date spending is up 22 percent to $885 million. The PlayStation 5 DualSense controller is the highest earning accessory. Sony's Pulse 3D wireless headset came in second.
"April 2021 spending on video game accessories declined 23% versus a year ago, to $168 million," said Piscatella. "Year-to-date accessory sales reached $885 million, an increase of 22% when compared to the same period in 2020.
"The PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller White was the leading accessory in dollar sales for both the month of April as well as 2021 year to date. Sony's PULSE 3D Wireless headset ranked 2nd."
MLB The Show 21 was the best-selling game in the US in April 2021. After its first month it is already the third best-selling game of 2021. It is the best-selling game on the Playtation platforms and the second best-selling game on Xbox.
"MLB The Show 21 debuted as both the best-selling game of April 2021 as well as the 3rd best-selling game of 2021 year to date," said Piscatella. "Launch month dollar sales of MLB The Show 21 set a new franchise high.
"MLB The Show 21 was the best-selling game of the month on PlayStation platforms, and ranked 2nd on Xbox. Note that digital sales on Xbox platforms are not included in the rankings."
New Pokemon Snap debuted in third place on the April 2021 software charts and was the best-selling Switch game. Launch month sales were more than double of 1999's Pokemon Snap.
"New Pokémon Snap was the 3rd best-selling game of April 2021 and was the month's best-selling game on Nintendo platforms," said Piscatella. "Launch month physical sales of New Pokémon Snap more than doubled those of Pokémon Snap, which debuted in the July 1999 tracking month."
Mortal Kombat 11 re-entered the top 10 in ninth place. This is the first top 10 position for the game since July 2020.
"Mortal Kombat 11 placed among the top 10 best-sellers of the month for the first time since ranking 9th in July 2020," said Piscatella. "Mortal Kombat 11 is currently the 13th best-selling game of 2021 year to date."
It Takes Two climbed the charts to ninth place after debuting in 22nd last month.
"It Takes Two climbed to 9th on the April 2021 best-sellers chart after placing 22nd in its March debut month," said Piscatella. "It Takes Two was the 3rd best-selling game of April on Xbox platforms while ranking 8th on PlayStation."
Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for April 2021:
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo games for April 2021:
Top 10 best-selling PlayStation games for April 2021:
Top 10 best-selling Xbox games for April 2021:
Here are the top 10 best-selling games of 2021 to date:
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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PS5 currently leads 320k against PS4 and 660k against Wii according to VGC. PS5 needs to sell between 250 - 300k weekly to stay ahead Wii, which will pick up pace soon. This should be a close battle between PS5 and Wii the first 4 years. I wonder why VGC doesn't compare these two consoles.
Please do, that would be a great comparison
Despite being on the Game Pass, MLB The Show debuts 2nd shocked Pikachu face
I am not surprised at all actually. It has been almost a decade since that community had a good baseball game.
And we have to take into account that 2nd place in Xbox platforms might not mean much, considering a lot of people don't buy software anymore outside the holiday big ones
