Consumers in the United States spent less on hardware once again in July, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. But a deluge of new releases pushed up software sales.
Here are the full results for July 2019:
| July 2019 Dollar Sales | July’18 | July’19 | Change | |
| Total Video Game Sales | $759m | $762m | Flat | |
| Video Games Hardware | $217m | $169m | -22% | |
| PC & Video Games Software (PC, Console and Portable; Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the STEAM, PlayStation and Xbox platforms) | $253m | $340m | 34% | |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $289m | 254m | -12% |
“July 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards totaled $762 million, slightly higher than a year ago,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Gains in software spending due to the shift of Madden NFL into the July tracking month offset declines across hardware, accessories, and game cards.”
And when you look at the year as a whole, sales are down slightly, and that’s due primarily to the slowing hardware segment.
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“Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards has fallen 4 percent when compared to 2018, to $6.4 billion,” said Piscatella. “Declines in hardware spending have offset growth in software sales.”
Let’s get to the software charts, and click here if you want details about hardware and accessory sales.
Software
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. But not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold.
- Madden NFL 20^**
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
- Super Mario Maker 2*
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
- Minecraft***
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Mario Kart 8*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
- MLB 19: The Show
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- NBA 2K19
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4
“Dollar sales of tracked video game software reached $340 million in July 2019, 34% higher than a year ago,” said Piscatella. “This change was driven by the shift of Madden NFL into the July 2019 tracking period after it launched in the August 2018 tracking period.”
Through the first seven months of the year, game sales are up.
“Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked video game software have increased 5 percent, to $2.9 billion,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 have experienced software sales growth year to date.”
That will likely change later this holiday because 2019 likely won’t have any games that match the scale of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Madden NFL 20
“Madden NFL 20 was July’s best-selling video game,” said Piscatella. “This is the 20th consecutive year that a Madden NFL franchise game has been the best-selling title of its release month. Madden NFL 20 immediately becomes the eighth best-selling game of 2019 year to date. Madden Football remains the best-selling sports property in U.S. history.”
It’s worth noting that Madden’s sales do not include PC digital or people who subscribe to Origin Access Premier. That $15-per-month membership includes Madden NFL 20 at no additional cost.
Fire Emblem
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the second best-selling video game of July 2019,” said Piscatella. “Fire Emblem: Three Houses represents the largest launch of a Fire Emblem game in U.S. history, with launch month sales tripling those of the previous best-seller in release month, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Fire Emblem: Three Houses instantly becomes the second best-selling game in franchise lifetime sales, trailing only Fire Emblem: Awakening.”
Three Houses is another huge step forward for the franchise, and these numbers do not include any digital sales.
Nintendo
“Six of the top 10 best-selling video games of July 2019 are Nintendo platform exclusives,” said Piscatella.
In addition to Fire Emblem, the June release Super Mario Maker 2 finished at No. 3. Meanwhile, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 — The Black Order, a Switch exclusive, was No. 4.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Mortal Kombat 11
“Mortal Kombat 11 is the best-selling video game of 2019 year to date,” said Piscatella. “Lifetime sales of Mortal Kombat 11 are now the second highest in franchise history, as only Mortal Kombat X has generated higher dollar sales. Mortal Kombat 11 is now the fifth best-selling fighting game in history.”
The rest of the software charts
The 10 best-selling games of 2019 so far
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
- Anthem**
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Madden NFL 20**
- Days Gone
- MLB 19: The Show
Top 10 best-selling games over the last 12 months
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
- NBA 2K19
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Madden NFL 19**
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Mortal Kombat 11
- FIFA 19**
- Battlefield V**
Xbox One (July 2019 NPD)
- Madden NFL 20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Minecraft
- Forza Horizon 4
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
PlayStation 4 (July 2019 NPD)
- Madden NFL 20
- Minecraft
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- MLB 19: The Show
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Days Gone
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Red Dead Redemption II
Nintendo Switch (July 2019 NPD)
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
- Super Mario Maker 2*
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Mario Kart 8*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Party*
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
- Super Mario Odyssey*
Nintendo 3DS (July 2019 NPD)
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
- Super Mario Maker*
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
- Detective Pikachu*
- Super Mario 3D Land*
- Super Smash Bros.*
- Luigi’s Mansion*
- Mario Kart 7*
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D*
