The NPD Group has published its United States games industry report for the month of October 2021, revealing that Nintendo Switch outsold both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in unit and dollar sales, thanks to the launch of its OLED model. However, the PS5 remains 2021’s best-selling hardware in the country in terms of dollar sales while the Switch leads in unit sales.
Video game retail set a new record for an October month this year, with $4.4 billion spent. Year-to-date consumer spending has reached $46.7 billion. October’s hardware dollar sales specifically increased by 82 percent compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date hardware spending has also increased by 53 percent year-on-year.
As far as software is concerned, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 6 was October’s best-selling game, and has already become the eighth best-selling game of 2021, climbing to the top of both PlayStation and Xbox software charts. Left 4 Dead inspired Back 4 Blood was the month’s second best-selling game, landing in the second spot on both consoles’ software charts. Nintendo Switch’s highly-anticipated Metroid Dread followed in the third place.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy debuted at seven, Mario Party Superstars debuted at eight, and NHL 22 debuted in the ninth spot.
Last but not least, sales of accessories also increased, reaching $158 million – up by five percent year-on-year. Year-to-date accessory sales have reached $1.9 billion, which is an increase of nine percent compared to the same period last year. The Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller was October 2021’s best-selling accessory. PS5’s white DualSense remains the best-selling accessory of the year.
[Source: Mat Piscatella]
