MLB the Show 21 Debuts at #1, Returnal Failed to Crack the Top 5 in April Says NPD

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for April 2021, and while business was down slightly year-on-year, it was still a good month. Players spent $4.6 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in April, down 2 percent compared to the same time period last year. Of course, it’s important to note that last April was the biggest ever, as the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns drove people to gaming and huge releases like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Animal Crossing: New Horizons dropped. So yeah, the industry almost doing as well as last year isn’t a bad thing. On the hardware front, Nintendo Switch was once again the top-selling system.

As for software, it was an up-and-down month for Sony – the newly-multiplatform MLB The Show 21 came in at #1, but the PS5-exclusive Returnal only squeaked in at #8 (granted, it was only on sale for 2 days in April). Other fresh additions to the list include New Pokemon Snap at #3 and NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… at #5. Meanwhile, Outriders stayed surprisingly strong at #4 and the inventive It Takes Two scrambled into the top 10 after missing the charts in March.

Here are April’s top 20 games according to NPD:

1. MLB The Show 21
2. Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War
3. New Pokemon Snap
4. Outriders
5. NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139…
6. Mortal Kombat 11
7. Monster Hunter Rise
8. Returnal
9. It Takes Two
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
11. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
12. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
13. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
14. Minecraft
15. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
16. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
17. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
18. Assassin's Creed Valhalla
19. Pokemon Sword & Shield
20. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

And here are the top-10 best-selling games of 2021 thus far:

1. Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War
2. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
3. MLB the Show 21
4. Monster Hunter Rise
5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
6. Outriders
7. Assassin's Creed Valhalla
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Minecraft
10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

An interesting month – I wonder what kind of legs both MLB the Show 21 and Returnal will end up having for Sony. What games did you pick up in April?