The games industry brought in $1.08 billion in June, up 25 percent year-over-year, according to the industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. Nintendo’s Mario Tennis Aces made quite a racket when it debuted on June 22, shooting up to become the best-selling title of the month. The popularity of multiplayer games like Epic’s Fortnite continued to contribute to high sales in the accessories category, which was up 38 percent.
“Year-to-date sales of both headsets and gamepads have achieved all-time record highs for a June tracking period,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “The previous year-to-date high spending for headsets occurred in 2010, and for gamepads in 2016.”
Here are the numbers for June:
- Total: $1.08 billion (up 25 percent from $864 million in June 2017)
- Hardware: $350 million (up 52 percent from $231 million)
- PC and console software: $374 million (down 1 percent from $379 million)
- Accessories: $353 million (up 38 percent from $255 million)
Here’s how 2018 is comparing so far to 2017 in terms of year-to-date dollar sales:
- Total: $6.02 billion (up 17 percent from $5.15 billion in 2017 year to date)
- Hardware: $1.69 billion (up 21 percent from $1.39 billion)
- PC and console software: $2.56 billion (up 6 percent from $2.41 billion)
- Accessories: $1.77 billion (up 31 percent from $1.36 billion)
Here’s a look the sales charts. These numbers exclude digital sales from storefronts such as Blizzard’s Battle.net, as those publishers don’t release that information.
Software
- Mario Tennis Aces*
- God of War 2018
- Grand Theft Auto V
- The Crew 2
- Far Cry 5
- Mario Kart 8*
- LEGO Incredibles
- FIFA 18**
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Detroit: Become Human
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- NBA 2K18
- Call of Duty: WWII
- MLB 18: The Show
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- Vampyr*
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze*
- State of Decay 2
*No digital sales included
**No PC digital sales included
Nintendo won big as the month’s top publisher, even without The NPD Group tracking digital sales from its eShop. When Mario Tennis Aces debuted on June 22, it instantly set a record as Nintendo’s best-selling tennis game in terms of first-month sales and climbed to No. 1 on June’s best-sellers chart.
“Nintendo Switch was the only platform that produced software sales growth in June, with dollar sales more than doubling those of June 2017,” said Piscatella. “Year-to-date software sales on Nintendo Switch are also more than double those of a year ago.”
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Lego Incredibles’s launch month sales were second only to 2016’s Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The game got a boost by timing its June 15th launch to coincide with the debut of Pixar’s Incredibles 2 in theaters.
Santa Monica Studio’s God of War 2018 continues its reign at the top of the charts, sitting at No. 2 of June’s best-sellers as well as 2018’s top games overall. Action games have had a good year so far, and sales for titles in that category are up 30 percent year-to-date.
“Some super-genres are showing particularly strong year-to-date performance,” said Piscatella. “Sales of action games are up 30 percent on a year-to-date basis, while racing games, up 22 percent, and shooters, up 13 percent, are also experiencing double-digit percentage gains year-on-year.”
Piscatella says that racing games have been boosted by strong titles like Forza Motorsport 7, Gran Turismo Sport, and Need for Speed: Payback.
“These titles, along with continued strong performance of Mario Kart 8 and Rocket League, have pushed the racing super genre higher,” said Piscatella.
The NPD Group calls broad categories of games “super genres” — for instance, action is a super genre while stealth action is referred to simply as a genre.
Xbox One
- The Crew 2
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Far Cry 5
- State of Decay 2
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- FIFA 18
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Lego Incredibles
PlayStation 4
- God of War 2018
- Detroit: Become Human
- Grand Theft Auto V
- FIFA 18
- The Crew 2
- MLB 18: The Show
- Far Cry 5
- Vampyr*
- Lego Incredibles
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
Nintendo Switch (physical only)
- Mario Tennis Aces
- Mario Kart 8
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Lego Incredibles
- Splatoon 2
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Kirby Star Allies
- Hyrule Warriors Definitive Ed
Nintendo 3DS
- Pokémon: Ultra Sun
- Pokémon: Ultra Moon
- Mario Kart 7
- Super Smash Bros.
- Super Mario 3D Land
- Detective Pikachu
- Minecraft
- Mario Party: The Top 100
- Super Mario Maker
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
The best-selling games of 2018 so far
- Far Cry 5
- God of War 2018
- Monster Hunter: World
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Dragon Ball: Fighterz
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Mario Kart 8*
- NBA 2K18
- MLB 18: The Show
- Super Mario Odyssey*
The best-selling games over the last 12 months
- Call of Duty: WWII
- NBA 2K18
- Destiny 2**
- Madden NFL 18
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- Far Cry 5
- Star Wars: Battlefront II 2017**
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- God of War 2018
Hardware and accessories
Folks spent $350 million on hardware in June, thanks mainly to the battle royale sensation Fortnite. Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console and remains the top platform year-to-date, but Microsoft and Nintendo also saw their sales increase. Year-over-year, Xbox One made almost twice and the Switch sold more than 50 percent. Nintendo also sold the most consoles with its NES Classic.
“This is the first time a Nintendo Entertainment System console has led in monthly unit sales since NPD tracking began in 1995,” said Piscatella.
The accessories and game card category grew 31 percent year-over-year, hitting $1.8 billion. Game cards hit all-time high sales, and accessories generated the most revenue since 2011. Like it did with hardware, Epic’s hit influenced headset sales, which was twice as high as June 2017 and up 86 percent year-to-date.
