NPD: Madden NFL 19 scores while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 returns

Nintendo Switch sales remain strong, though still must work to catch PS4's year-to-date lead

Data by Rebekah Valentine Senior Staff Writer

Published on Sept. 18, 2018

August had a bit of everything for everyone in terms of game and hardware sales, at least to hear the NPD report tell it. Nintendo remained in charge of hardware sales strength, while Madden NFL saw its best launch in years, and a 2009 release landed in spot #8 on the software charts.

According to the monthly report from The NPD Group (with analysis by Mat Piscatella), overall spending for August on hardware, accessories, game cards, and software was up 26% year-over-year to $796 million, with year-to-date spending up 17% to $7.5 billion. Accessories and game cards drove the largest year-to-date growth.

Hardware spending was up 28% year-over-year to $214 million and remains at its highest since 2011. All three major consoles saw year-over-year increases, and year-to-date spending was up 22% to $2.1 billion.

Nintendo continued to enjoy strong hardware sales, seeing the company's highest hardware unit and dollar totals since 2011. Leading this charge is the Nintendo Switch Neon Red/Blue Joy Con 32GB, which is the current best-selling single hardware item in both units and dollar sales year-to-date.

Nintendo also continues to be supported with strong NES and SNES Classic sales, with the NES leading in units and the SNES in dollar sales. Overall plug and play sales up over 400% year-to-date due to the re-release of the NES Classic and the SNES Classic's full release earlier in the year.

That all said, the PlayStation 4 (in all its incarnations) is still the best-selling console in both units and dollars year-to-date.

Accessory and game card spending was at a record high for the month of August, growing 39% year-over-year to $251 million. Year-to-date spending was also at a record high, up 33% year-over-year to $2.3 billion.

Finally, software spending was up 16% year-over-year to $330 million, and year-to-date spending was up 6% to $3.1 billion. Leading software spending this month was Madden NFL 19, which saw the series' most successful launch sales since Madden NFL 13. Monster Hunter: World returned to the chart in the #2 spot due to the early month PC release.

Making a surprising appearance at #8 was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was recently added to be backward compatible on Xbox One. Its presence in the Top 10 for August is a jump from its spot at 321 last month.

Top 10 selling games (physical and digital) for August 2018