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Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in May, Resident Evil Village Debuts in 1st

Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in May, Resident Evil Village Debuts in 1st - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 July 2021 / 4,528 Views

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in May  2021 in terms of unit and dollar sales, according to figures from NPD. NPD includes the dates for May 2 through May 29. 

The Switch has been the best-selling console for 30 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 May, as well as 2021 year-to-date," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. 

Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in April, MLB The Show 21 Debuts in 1st

Overall spending on video games increased threepercent year-over-year from $4.3 billion to $4.5 billion. Yaer-to-date spending increased 17 percent compared to 2020 to $24.0 billion.

"ay 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories increased 3% when compared to a year ago, reaching $4.5 billion," said Piscatella. "Year-to-date consumer spending totaled $24.0 billion, a 17% increase compared to 2020 YTD."

He added, "3% growth in May following last May's 30% gains is impressive. Tremendous demand for new HW, supply will dictate performance. Subscription spending is hot, no evidence of cannibalization yet. Confidence growing in market ability to comp to 2020."

Overall spending on hardware increased five percent year-on-year to $244 million. However, hardware revenue is 84 percent higher than the $160 million earned in April 2019. Year-to-date spending increased 36 percent compared to 2020 from $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion.

Spending on video game content in May 2021 increased three percent year-over-year from $4.0 billion to $4.1 billion. Year-to-date spending on content increased from $18.2 billion to $21.0 billion.

Spending on video game accessories dropped eight percent in May 2021 to $142 million, while year-to-date spending is up 17 percent to $1.03 billion. Spending on Steering Wheel accessories have grown over 45 percent compared to 2020. 

"Year-to-date sales of Steering Wheel accessories have gained more than 45% when compared to a year ago," said Piscatella. "The Logitech G920 Driving Force Racing Wheel is 2021's best-selling Steering Wheel year-to-date."

Resident Evil Village was the best-selling game in the US in May 2021 on the overall charts, as well as on the PlayStation and Xbox charts. The game is already the second best-selling game of 2021, only behind Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

"Resident Evil Village was the best-selling game of the month on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms, as well as across tracked titles on Steam," said Piscatella.

Days Gone released for PC in May and shot up the charts from 247th in April to 21st in May. 

"Days Gone was the 21st best-selling game of May 2021, after placing 247th on the April chart," said Piscatella. "Days Gone was released to the PC platform via Steam on May 17th, 2021."

Mass Effect Legendary Edition debuted in second place on the overall charts for May 2021. It debuted in third on the PlayStation charts and second on the Xbox charts. 

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for May 2021:

Top 10 best-selling Nintendo games for May 2021:

Top 10 best-selling PlayStation games for May 2021:

Top 10 best-selling Xbox games for May 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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8 Comments
siebensus4 (on 14 June 2021)

I wonder if Switch can be the best-selling console for 36 consecutive months (3 years). That would include November '21, which could be pretty hard to achieve, but still possible.

  • +3
RODRIGOESEL1 siebensus4 (on 14 June 2021)

Maybe with the "New Switch " can be

  • 0
SvenTheTurkey siebensus4 (on 14 June 2021)

Obviously the ps5 is going to be sold out all year. But if they manage to stockpile a lot of units for November, I could see it outselling the switch. If not, neither sony nor microsoft will have enough stock in any month this year to sell more than the switch.

  • +1
2zosteven (on 15 June 2021)

Probably not the place but isn't time about time to see something on eternal darkness?

  • 0
Kakadu18 (on 15 June 2021)

Kinda disappointing launch for Miitopia.

  • 0
LivncA_Dis3 (on 15 June 2021)

well deserved CAPCOM
re8 was a blast and amazing!

  • 0
rapsuperstar31 (on 14 June 2021)

Good sales numbers for Resident Evil. So odd seeing a Sony Corp game listed on Xbox's list. Curious if the state of play sale puts games like Demon Souls and Sackboy back into the top 10 PlayStation games sales for the month of June.

  • 0
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