The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for March, and it seems like it was an up-and-down month for the industry. Players spent $4.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in March, up 4 percent year-on-year. This increase came from mobile and software spending, as hardware sales were down 31 percent year-on-year with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales.
In terms of software, Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 was the big winner at #1. We’ve already heard DD2 was surprisingly successful, but according to Circana, it’s already sold more than every previous Dragon’s Dogma game combined. Other additions to the chart include MLB The Show 24 at #3, Rise of the Ronin at #5, Princess Peach Showtime! at #6, Unicorn Overword at #8, and WWE 2K24 at #9. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth slid from #2 in its debut month to #7 in March, and according to Circana, currently sits at #14 on the list of all-time best-selling Final Fantasy games, backing up reports the title is underperforming. Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 held strong at #2, remaining the top game of the year so far.
Here are March’s top 20 premium games according to Circana:
1 - Dragon's Dogma 2
2 - Helldivers 2
3 - MLB The Show 24
4 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
5 - Rise of the Ronin
6 - Princess Peach: Showtime!
7 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
8 - Unicorn Overlord
9 - WWE 2K24
10 - Hogwarts Legacy
11 - Madden NFL 24
12 - EA Sports FC 24
13 - Minecraft
14 - Horizon Forbidden West
15 - Tekken 8
16 - Rainbow Six Siege
17 - Elden Ring
18 - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
19 - Spider-Man 2
20 - Mortal Kombat 1
And here are the top games of 2024 to date:
1 - Helldivers 2
2 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
3 - Dragon's Dogma 2
4 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
5 - MLB The Show 24
6 - Tekken 8
7 - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
8 - Madden NFL 24
9 - Persona 3 Reload
10 - Hogwarts Legacy
What are your thoughts on the March NPD/Circana charts? Any big surprises or things you’re happy to see?
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
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