The game industry is still contracting as the current console generation comes to an end. Hardware sales continue plummet for Microsoft and Sony, and software sales are essentially flat. That’s according to The NPD Group, which today released its June report for video games sales in the United States.
“June 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards reached $959 million,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “That’s 13 percent lower than a year ago. All categories of spending declined.”
| June 2019 Dollar Sales | June’18 | June’19 | Change | |
| Total Video Game Sales | $1.1B | $959m | -13% | |
| Video Games Hardware | $350m | $235m | -33% | |
| PC & Video Games Software (PC, Console and Portable; Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the STEAM, PlayStation and Xbox platforms) | $388m | $386m | -1% | |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $362m | $338m | -7% |
Through the first half of 2019, the story is similar.
“Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards has fallen 4 percent when compared to 2018, to $5.6 billion,” said Piscatella. “Declines in hardware spending have offset growth in sales of accessories & game cards.”
Let’s get to the charts.
Software
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.
The best-selling games of June 2019 in the U.S.
- Super Mario Maker 2*
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Minecraft***
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- NBA 2K19
- Mario Kart 8*
- Days Gone
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Red Dead Redemption II
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- MLB 19: The Show
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Super Mario Party*
- God of War 2018
*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
***Minecraft does not include digital sales on PS4 and Xbox One
Overall, game software did relatively well in June and through the first half of the year.
“Dollar sales of tracked video game software totaled $386 million in June 2019, declining 1 percent when compared to a year ago,” said Piscatella. “Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked video game software have increased 2 percent, to $2.6 billion.”
Consumers are still hungry for software even if they aren’t buying many new consoles. And that leads to situations where big new games are selling extremely well. That’s what happened with Mortal Kombat 11, and now Crash Team Racing and Super Mario Maker 2 have repeated that.
Super Mario Maker 2
Super Mario Maker 2 is actually the third release in the series. The first game came out for the Wii U and then a different version of that game hit the 3DS. But the Switch sequel has surpassed both of those.
“Super Mario Maker 2 was June’s best-selling video game,” said Piscatella. “Super Mario Maker 2 set a new record high for launch month sales of a Mario Maker title, surpassing both the September 2015 release of Super Mario Maker and the December 2016 release of Super Mario Maker 3DS.”
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
Crash Bandicoot had a smash hit with the remakes in 2017, and now Crash Team Racing is keeping that momentum.
“Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled ranked as the second best-selling game of June,” said Piscatella. “Sales of Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled represent the highest launch month total in Crash Bandicoot franchise history. The previous best was set by Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy, which debuted on the PlayStation 4 in June 2017.”
Mortal Kombat 11
Mortal Kombat 11, the year’s best-selling game so far, is also continuing to do well.
“Mortal Kombat 11 was the third best-selling game of June and remains the best-selling game of 2019 to date,” said Piscatella. “Lifetime sales of Mortal Kombat 11 have now surpassed those of Mortal Kombat (2011), placing Mortal Kombat 11 third in franchise history, with lifetime sales trailing only Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat III.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man
The excitement for the new Spider-Man: Far From Home movie drove fans back to Sony’s hit game.
“Marvel’s Spider-Man returns to the top 10 in June, ranking as the seventh best-selling game of the month, and is the fifth best-selling title over the trailing 12 month period,” said Piscatella. “Marvel’s Spider-Man continues to be the best-selling superhero game in U.S. history.”
Kingdom Hearts III
And Kingdom Hearts III continues to deliver for Square Enix as well.
“Kingdom Hearts III was the second best-selling game of 2019’s first half,” said Piscatella. “Kingdom Hearts III is the best-selling game in Kingdom Hearts franchise history.”
Grand Theft Auto V vs. Red Dead Redemption II
It’s worth noting that Red Dead Redemption II has not replaced Grand Theft Auto V as Rockstar’s money-printing microtransaction factory. GTA V ended the month as the No. 4 best-selling game of June. Red Dead has dropped down to No. 12 behind Rainbow Six: Siege.
But Red Dead has still outsold GTA through the first six months of 2019. Grand Theft Auto V is not in the top 10 on that list.
The rest of the software charts
Top 10 best-selling games so far this year
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2**
- Anthem^
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Days Gone
- Red Dead Redemption II
- MLB 19: The Show
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
Top 10 best-selling games over the last 12 months
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
- NBA 2K19
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Madden NFL 19**
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Mortal Kombat 11
- FIFA 19**
- Battlefield V**
Xbox One June 2019
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Minecraft
- Forza Horizon 4
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- NBA 2K19
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
PlayStation 4 June 2019
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Days Gone
- MLB 19: The Show
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Minecraft
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
- NBA 2K19
- Red Dead Redemption II
Nintendo Switch June 2019
- Super Mario Maker 2*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Mario Kart 8*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
- Super Mario Party*
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- Yoshi’s Crafted World*
Nintendo 3DS June 2019
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
- Super Mario Maker*
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
- Luigi’s Mansion*
- Super Smash Bros.*
- Detective Pikachu*
- Super Mario 3D Land*
- Mario Kart 7*
