Kirby Scores Big Time In March 2018 NPD Sales Results
The sales results for March 2018 have come in and the entire gaming industry is down 11% year-over-year. This was somewhat expected since last year saw the release of the Nintendo Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Consumers spent $1.32 billion last month, meaning that for the first three months of the year the industry has generated $3.41 billion, still higher than last year’s $2.98 billion.
Sony won the hardware battle with its combination of PlayStation 4 hardware bundles raking in the most revenue (includes PS4 Pro). Looking strictly at a sku by sku basis, the Neon Nintendo Switch system was the best selling individual console for the month.
The biggest winner for March was Far Cry 5, which topped the sales charts. It’s now the best selling game of the year and set a new record for the franchise, with full game sales nearly doubling that of Far Cry 3. Not bad!
Also performing well in March was Kirby Star Allies. It ranked number 4 on the overall top-sellers list (keep in mind that unlike most other games on the list, digital sales are not included in this figure). In fact, when looking strictly at revenue, it generated 90% more income than the previous top game in the series, 2002’s GBA game Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland. It looks like the Switch install base was hungry for a 2D platformer!
Here’s how the Top 20 shook out for March:
Software
- Far Cry 5
- Sea Of Thieves
- MLB 18: The Show
- Kirby Star Allies*
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Mario Kart 8*
- Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
- NBA 2K18
- Monster Hunter: World
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds**
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- A Way Out**
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- Dragon Ball: Fighterz
- FIFA 18**
- Splatoon 2*
- UFC 3
*No digital sales included
**No PC digital sales included
[Source: Venture Beat]
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
