The NPD Group has released their November sales data, and it looks like it’s going to be a very merry holiday for the video game industry. $2.68 billion was spent on video games during the month, an impressive 30 percent increase over last year.
On the hardware front, the good old dependable PlayStation 4 took the top spot. In fact, November was the PS4’s best month ever. That said, neither Microsoft or Nintendo have anything to complain about. With the release of the $500 Xbox One X, Microsoft actually made more money on hardware sales than Sony, and the Nintendo Switch surpassed 10 million units sold. Overall, hardware sales were $1.15 billion, a 52 percent increase over last year.
On the software front, November was all about Call of Duty: WWII. Star Wars Battlefront II took the second spot, but, as previously reported, Call of Duty sold five times better than Battlefront in November, so there’s a big gap between the #1 and #2 spots. Here’s the full NPD chart:
November 2017 Overall Software Chart
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Assassin’s CreedOrigins
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- Super Mario Odyssey
- FIFA 18
- Need for Speed: Payback
- Destiny 2
- Pokémon: Ultra Sun
- Pokémon: Ultra Moon
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- Grand Theft Auto V
- The Sims 4
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Mario Kart 8
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole
- WWE 2K18
- Just Dance 2018
Interesting to see Destiny 2 drop so quickly. Also, I would have expected to see Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon rank higher – perhaps the 3DS is finally drawing its last breath. Call of Duty: WWII is now the top-selling game of 2017, displacing previous champ Destiny 2. Here’s the year-to-date chart:
The best-selling games of 2017 so far
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Destiny 2
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Grand Theft Auto V
- For Honor
- Injustice 2
- Horizon Zero Dawn
There were some missteps in 2017, but overall it looks like the video game industry is in a very healthy place. It will be interesting to see where things go in December and the year beyond!
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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