Spider-Man 2 Reigns, Forza Motorsport Flops, and Alan Wake 2 Misses the Charts in October

The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for October, and it was a bit of an up-and-down kickoff to the holiday season. Players spent $4 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in October, a 5 percent year-on-year decrease. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by Switch and Xbox Series X/S, but hardware sales were down 23 percent year on year, with all consoles experiencing a double-digit decline in business.

On the software front, there were winners and losers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was #1 with a bullet, selling twice as many copies in its opening month than the original Spider-Man, and was followed by Super Mario Bros. Wonder at #2, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage at #3. Other new games landing in the top 10 included EA Sports UFC 5 at #7, NHL 24 at #8, and Sonic Superstars at #9.

Now to the not-so-good news. Microsoft’s much-promoted new Forza Motorsport debuted at #17, selling fewer copies than racing game competitor The Crew Motorsport in its second month. The new Lords of the Fallen also opened weakly at #20. But the one that will raise the most eyebrows is Alan Wake 2 which… isn’t in the top 20 at all. That’s mainly due to the fact that Epic Games doesn’t report digital sales, and, of course, Alan Wake 2’s sales were all digital. That said, Circana does track active users on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and Alan Wake 2 was not in the top 150 on either platform. So yeah, we don’t have the full picture, but the glimpses we have don’t look that promising.

Here are October’s top 20 games according to Circana:

1 - Marvel's Spider-Man 2

2 - Super Mario Bros. Wonder

3 - Assassin's Creed Mirage

4 - Madden NFL 24

5 - EA Sports FC 24

6 - Mortal Kombat 1

7 - EA Sports UFC 5

8 - NHL 24

9 - Sonic Superstars

10 - Hogwarts Legacy

11 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

12 - Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1

13 - NBA 2K24

14 - Starfield

15 - Elden Ring

16 - The Crew Motorfest

17 - Forza Motorsport

18 - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

19 - Minecraft

20 - Lords of the Fallen

And here are the top games of 2023 to date:

1 - Hogwarts Legay

2 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

3 - Madden NFL 24

4 - Marvel's Spider-Man 2

5 - Diablo IV

6 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

7 - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

8 - Mortal Kombat 1

9 – Starfield

10 - Resident Evil 4

What are your thoughts on the October NPD/Circana charts? Any big surprises or things you’re happy to see?

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