CoD: Modern Warfare, Pokemon Sword and Shield, and Switch Are Your November NPD Winners

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for the biggest shopping month of the year, but this November’s numbers weren’t particularly thrilling. Consumers spent $2.25 billion on games and hardware, down 19 percent compared to November 2018. Despite plenty of great sales, hardware sales were down 26 percent year on year. Nintendo Switch was again #1, gaining sales year-on-year, but the PS4 and Xbox One continue to limp along.

November was a solid month for new releases with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order coming in at #2, various versions of Pokemon Sword and Shield coming in at #3, #4, and #5, and Death Stranding and Need for Speed Heat both arguably falling slightly short of expectations at #7 and #8 respectively. It should also be noted, that if you combined all the versions of Pokemon Sword and Shield together, it would actually be the #2 game on the list – in fact, this was the biggest launch month for a Pokemon game ever.

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

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
3. Pokémon Sword
4. Pokémon Sword and Shield Double Pack
5. Pokémon Shield
6. Madden NFL 20
7. Death Stranding
8. NBA 2K20
9. Need for Speed Heat
10. Luigi’s Mansion 3
11. FIFA 20
12. Borderlands 3
13. The Outer Worlds
14. Just Dance 2020
15. Mario Kart 8
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
17. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
18. Ghost Recon Breakpoint
19. Grand Theft Auto V
20. Mortal Kombat 11

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

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
2. NBA 2K20
3. Madden NFL 20
4. Borderlands 3
5. Mortal Kombat 11
6. Kingdom Hearts III
7. The Division 2
8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
10. Anthem

What games did you pick up in November? Anything unexpected in this month’s NPD numbers?