Call of Duty: WWII and PS4 Dominated a Huge November According to NPD

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

1. Call of Duty: WWII
2. Star Wars: Battlefront II
3. Assassin’s CreedOrigins
4. NBA 2K18
5. Madden NFL 18
6. Super Mario Odyssey
7. FIFA 18
8. Need for Speed: Payback
9. Destiny 2
10. Pokémon: Ultra Sun
11. Pokémon: Ultra Moon
12. Middle-earth: Shadow of War
13. Grand Theft Auto V
14. The Sims 4
15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
16. Mario Kart 8
17. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
18. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
19. WWE 2K18
20. 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

1. Call of Duty: WWII
2. Destiny 2
3. NBA 2K18
4. Madden NFL 18
5. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
7. Grand Theft Auto V
8. For Honor
9. Injustice 2
10. 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!