July 2019 NPD Shows Strong Switch Hardware & Software Sales

The July 2019 video game sales data has arrived courtesy of the NPD Group and the big winner is Nintendo. They had the best selling console of the month (and the year for that matter) and dominated the top 10 sales chart. In fact, it’s even more impressive because unlike almost every other game ranked, the Nintendo published titles do not include digital sales, which has continued to increase month over month.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses came in at number two behind Madden NFL 20, a series that has continued to debut in the number one spot since 1998. This marks the best debut of any Fire Emblem game in franchise history and is already the second best selling game in the series with an almost certainty that it will overthrow Fire Emblem Awakening soon. In fact, Three Houses had sales tripling Shadows of Valentia, which held the prior record for best launch month. Naturally the $60 price tag helps (the 3DS games were $40 a pop), but this still signifies gigantic growth for the franchise that’s now undoubtedly a hit on the Switch.

As for the entire industry, July 2019 wasn’t a stellar month. Overall game sales came in at $762 million versus $759 million last year – virtually flat. Hardware saw a huge decline off 22%, with only $169 million versus $217 million the prior year. Software was up 34% at $340 million versus $253 million. Accessories and game cards declined 12% with $254 million versus $289 million.

Although the Switch was the best selling console of the month, it seems like many consumers are waiting for the next great thing. Things like the Switch Lite and the newly revised Switch hardware with a better battery life may have had some gamers hold off purchases in July. Plus, now that E3 has come and gone and both Sony and Microsoft have announced plans for new systems in 2020, it’s possible some would-be late adopters are sitting it out for the new machines. Not helping matters is a lack of price reductions on the PS4 and Xbox One consoles, which would no doubt help lift hardware sales out of the gutter.

July 2019 Software Sales

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.

1. Madden NFL 20^**
2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
3. Super Mario Maker 2*
4. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
5. Minecraft***
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
8. Mortal Kombat 11
9. Mario Kart 8*
10. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man
12. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
13. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
14. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
15. Red Dead Redemption II
16. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
17. MLB 19: The Show
18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
19. NBA 2K19
20. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4

The 10 best-selling games of 2019 so far

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Kingdom Hearts III
3. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
4. Anthem**
5. Resident Evil 2 2019
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. Madden NFL 20**
9. Days Gone
10. MLB 19: The Show

Top 10 best-selling games over the last 12 months

1. Red Dead Redemption II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
3. NBA 2K19
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man
6. Madden NFL 19**
7. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
8. Mortal Kombat 11
9. FIFA 19**
10. Battlefield V**

Xbox One (July 2019 NPD)

1. Madden NFL 20
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Minecraft
4. Forza Horizon 4
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
7. Mortal Kombat 11
8. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
9. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

PlayStation 4 (July 2019 NPD)

1. Madden NFL 20
2. Minecraft
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Marvel’s Spider-Man
5. MLB 19: The Show
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
7. Mortal Kombat 11
8. Days Gone
9. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
10. Red Dead Redemption II

Nintendo Switch (July 2019 NPD)

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
2. Super Mario Maker 2*
3. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Mario Kart 8*
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
7. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
8. Super Mario Party*
9. Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
10. Super Mario Odyssey*

Nintendo 3DS (July 2019 NPD)

1. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
2. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
3. Super Mario Maker*
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
5. Detective Pikachu*
6. Super Mario 3D Land*
7. Super Smash Bros.*
8. Luigi’s Mansion*
9. Mario Kart 7*
10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D*

[Source: Venturebeat]

Craig Majaski

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.