NPD: Madden 20 Tops July Software, Nintendo has a Strong Showing Across the Board

The NPD Group has released its monthly report recapping hardware and software sales in the US, and while Madden 20 shot to the top of the charts, Nintendo had a very strong month overall.

SOFTWARE

The NPD’s Matt Piscatella was on hand to provide supporting commentary for today’s results, noting that 2019 is the “20th consecutive year that a Madden NFL franchise has been the best-selling title in its release month.”

Madden 20 is already the 8th best-selling game of the year, and Madden remains the most valuable sports franchise in US video game history.

But Nintendo also deserves a share of the accolades in July.

“Six of the top 10 best-selling video games of July 2019 are Nintendo platform exclusives,” said Piscatella, which includes Fire Emblem, Super Mario Maker 2 (released in June), Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3, and The Black Order.

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

Top 10 best-selling games of the year

Piscatella notes that ” Mortal Kombat 11 is the best-selling Video Game of 2019 YTD. Lifetime sales of Mortal Kombat 11 are now 2nd highest in franchise history, as only Mortal Kombat X has generated higher dollar sales.  

Mortal Kombat 11 is now the 5th best-selling Fighting game in history. “

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*

HARDWARE

Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in July, but overall hardware sales were down year-on-year. Piscatella states:

“Hardware spending in July 2019 fell 22% vs YA, to $169m. Year-to-date hardware spending has declined 21% vs YA, to $1.5 billion.  

Spending declined across all in market Console platforms in July, while only Nintendo Switch has experienced sales gains year-to-date. “

“Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling hardware platform of July and remains 2019’s hardware sales leader,”

As for peripheral hardware:

“The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller was July 2019’s best-selling accessory.”

“The PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 Black remains the year’s leading seller.”

If you’d like to compare to the previous month, you can also check out the NPD results for the month of June in our dedicated article.

Thanks to ResetEra for compiling the above information into text format.