Electronic Arts’ FIFA 21 hit the ground running upon its arrival on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One last month. It debuted at number one on the NPD charts, a first for the FIFA series in the United States. In fact, the title landed at the number one spot on both PS4 and Xbox One.
NPD analyst Mat Piscatella made note of FIFA’s record-breaking US sales in a Twitter thread regarding NPD October 2020 results. Watch Dogs: Legion counts as another new release that debuted high on the charts. The third entry in the franchise landed on the NPD at number three, despite only being on the market for three days in October.
October 2020’s top 20 best-selling titles across all platforms feature below. (As always, it’s worth noting the chart does not include digital sales for Nintendo-published titles.)
- FIFA 21
- Madden NFL 21
- Watch Dogs: Legion
- NHL 21
- Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Star Wars: Squadrons
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
- Ghost of Tsushima
- NMA 2K21
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Ring Fit Adventure
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
- Super Mario Party
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
As the above chart shows, Ghost of Tsushima continues to hold strong on the top 20. This is no surprise given it recently crossed five million units sold. Sucker Punch’s latest and The Last of Us Part II are faring well on the list of best-sellers for 2020 as a whole, too. TLoU Part II presently sits at number four, with Ghost of Tsushima on its heels at five. The United States’ top 10 best-selling titles of the year, thus far, are as follows:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Madden NFL 21
- The Last of Us Part II
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Final Fantasy VII: Remake
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
All in all, gaming in the US for the month of October fared incredibly well. Total spend for hardware, content, and accessories crossed $3.8 billion. According to Piscatella, spending has increased by 14 percent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, total spending for the entire year, thus far, topped $37.5 billion. The new consoles and a swath of high profile game releases guarantees this number will soon climb dramatically.
[Source: NPD via Mat Piscatella on Twitter]