The NPD has released their full 2016 report for the games industry in the United States, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has come out on top as the best-selling game of the year. Right behind it was Battlefield 1, with The Division, NBA 2K17, and Madden NFL 17 rounding out the top five.
Total spending for the year came in at $30.4 billion, which is up slightly from 2015’s $30.2 billion. By category, software was up 6% to $24.5 billion, while hardware fell 24% to $3.7 billion. “Unfortunately the release of the Xbox One S and the PlayStation 4 Pro did not generate dollar spending growth,” NPD analyst Sam Naji said. “Although the combined ARP for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 systems decreased by 15 percent, consumers bought 7 percent fewer units.”
Here’s the top 10 best-selling games of 2016 (January 3, 2016 to December 31, 2016) in the US through physical and digital retailers, keeping in mind that Battle.net sales weren’t included for Overwatch:
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Battlefield 1
- The Division
- NBA 2K17
- Madden NFL 17
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Overwatch
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- FIFA 17
- Final Fantasy XV
In 2015, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was the best-selling game of the year in the US.
As for the NPD’s December 2016 report, they reveal that $2.78 billion was spent last month, which is down 15% year-over-year. Console software was down 12% to $1.19 billion and hardware was down 20% to $995 million.
The top three selling games of December 2016 (November 27 to December 31) were Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Final Fantasy XV, and Battlefield 1, respectively.
Although it was the ninth consecutive year where a Call of Duty game won the December chart, Naji notes that “Final Fantasy XV was the best selling game for the PS4 during the month.” Additionally, “Final Fantasy XV experienced the best console launch month in the history of the franchise (since tracking began in 1995) selling 19 percent more new physical units than Final Fantasy XIII in its launch month and 54 percent more in total dollar revenue including digital full game sales.”
PS4 was the #1 console of December 2016, and the 500GB Uncharted 4 bundle was the #1 console SKU.
[Source: Games Industry, GamesBeat]
