Madden NFL 20 and Nintendo Switch Top the NPD Charts Again in Worst August in 20 Years

By Nathan Birch
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The NPD Group have released their full North American sales data for August 2019, and it was a rough month for everybody other than Nintendo and EA. Overall spending in August was a less-than-rockin’ $666 million, with software spending dropping to $257 million, the lowest number since 1998. That stat is particularly worrisome when you take inflation into account.

August’s software charts were topped by Madden NFL 20 for the second straight month, while dependable warhorses Minecraft (yes, Minecraft) and Grand Theft Auto V took the #2 and #3 spots. As for new games, Astral Chain debuted at #10, Age of Wonders: Planetfall grabbed the #15 spot, and Man of Medan snuck in at #19. It should be noted that Astral Chain was only on sale for two days in August, and Platinum has since declared the game a success, so hopefully it ranks higher in September.

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On the hardware front, the Nintendo Switch once again nabbed the top spot, increasing their August sales year-on-year. Meanwhile, the Xbox One and PS4 continue to stall out after six years on the market, with hardware sales down a significant 22 percent overall.

Here are August’s top-20 games according to NPD:

  1. Madden NFL 20
  2. Minecraft
  3. Grand Theft Auto V
  4. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
  5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  6. Super Mario Maker 2
  7. Mario Kart 8
  8. Mortal Kombat 11
  9. Rainbow Six Siege
  10. Astral Chain
  11. Marvel’s Spider-Man
  12. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  13. Red Dead Redemption II
  14. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  15. Age of Wonders: Planetfall
  16. Super Mario Party
  17. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
  18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
  19. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
  20. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

And here are the NPD best-sellers of 2019 so far:

  1. Mortal Kombat 11
  2. Kingdom Hearts III
  3. Madden NFL 20
  4. The Division 2
  5. Anthem
  6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  7. Resident Evil 2
  8. Grand Theft Auto V
  9. Red Dead Redemption II
  10. Days Gone

It’s clear the next generation of consoles are very much past due, but, unfortunately, they’re probably not going to arrive for at least another year. So yeah, expect more record-setting bad months as we head into 2020.

What games did you pick up last month? Anything about the August NPD numbers surprise you?

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