With the release of the PlayStation 5, Sony achieved the biggest console launch month in the history of video games, according to NPD’s November reports. Sony’s new console broke the record of most units sold in a launch month, which was previously held by PlayStation 4 in November 2013. It also broke the record for the highest dollar sales, again beating out the PlayStation 4 in its launch month.
While the lead up to the PS5’s launch was certainly littered with pot holes, it’s been a smooth ride for PlayStation since early November. The combination of a killer launch lineup and unprecedented hype and from the PS4’s success seems to have culminated in phenomenal sales for both hardware and software alike. The console’s only limitation at this point seems to be supply and scalpers.
The leading software title for the month of November was Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which took the top spots for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles in the month of November. More impressive is that it’s now the top selling software title for the entire year, with less than a month on the market.
Other notables:
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the 3rd best selling game in November, beating out multiplatform titles like Watch Dogs: Legions and NBA 2K21.
- The PS5’s DualSense controller was the highest selling controller – in both units and dollars – in U.S. launch month history.
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla came in as the 2nd best selling title in the month of November, seeing healthy sales on both next generation consoles. This pushed it to the 7th best selling game of the year after less than a month.
- The Nintendo Switch outsold the PS5 in the month of November, continuing it’s run of 24 straight months as the best selling console. The PS5, however, beat Switch in dollars earned, owing to the more expensive hardware.
In somewhat grim news, the Xbox Series X|S tracked lower in its first month than the Xbox One did in November 2013. While Xbox has reported that their Series X|S launch was the best in Xbox history, they launched simultaneously worldwide this time around instead of a gradual worldwide rollout. This boosted their overall sales numbers, but leaves a bleak picture for their hardware sales in the U.S., which is what NPD reports are based on.
[Source: NPD Group, Mat Piscatella]
