April 2020 NPD Sales Results
April was a truly staggering month in terms of video game sales in the U.S. and especially of note is the massive increase in video game hardware. For April 2020 consumers spent $420 million on new gaming hardware (up 163% year-over-year) – the highest total for April since 2008 ($427 million). The Nintendo Switch was the lead seller once again in both unit and dollar sales. In fact, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, “Year-to-date dollar sales of Nintendo Switch are the highest of any hardware platform in U.S. history. The previous high was set by Nintendo Wii in the year-to-date period ending April 2009.”
For the month of April 2020 total video game spending came in at $1.5 billion, 73% higher than last April. This is a new record high in video game spending for the month of April, beating April of 2008’s $1.2 billion. For the year the industry is up with $4.5 billion in consumer spending versus $4.017 billion the prior year. All sectors of the market are up year-over-year, including hardware, software, and accessories.
To no one’s surprise Final Fantasy VII Remake took the number one spot on the software charts for April 2020. This much-anticipated game is now the third best selling game for the year, behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons at two and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at number one. Below are the top 20 best selling games in the U.S. for April 2020 courtesy of the NPD Group and Venturebeat. Nintendo first party games don’t report digital sales, so they could have placed even higher than what’s represented:
April 2020 NPD: Top 20 best-selling games of the month in the U.S.
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 digital sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales. This chart also does not include microtransactions, subscriptions, or anything beyond full-game sales. With those caveats in mind, it is best to think of this as a very useful snapshot of a much more dynamic industry.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold.
- Final Fantasy VII: Remake
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- NBA 2K20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Resident Evil 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered
- MLB: The Show 20
- Madden NFL 20 [EA Sports]
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Just Dance 2020
- FIFA 20 [EA Sports]
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Borderlands 3
- Predator: Hunting Grounds
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- Persona 5: Royal
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Top 10 best-selling games so far this year
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Final Fantasy VII: Remake
- NBA 2K20
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- MLB: The Show 20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Resident Evil 3
- Madden NFL 20 [EA Sports]
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
Top 10 best-selling games of the last 12 months
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- NBA 2K20
- Madden NFL 20 [EA Sports]
- Borderlands 3
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- Grand Theft Auto V
- FIFA 20 [EA Sports]
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
April 2020: Top 10 best-selling Xbox One games
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NBA 2K20
- Resident Evil 3
- Madden NFL 20 [EA Sports]
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
- FIFA 20 [EA Sports]
April 2020: Top 10 best-selling PS4 games
- Final Fantasy VII: Remake
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- NBA 2K20
- Grand Theft Auto V
- MLB: The Show 20
- Resident Evil 3
- Predator: Hunting Grounds
- Madden NFL 20 [EA Sports]
- Persona 5: Royal
- Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
April 2020: Top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
- Just Dance 2020
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Luigi’s Mansion 3*
- Pokémon: Sword*
- Trials of Mana
- Super Mario Party*
[Source: Venturebeat]
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.
