The NPD Group has released the February 2019 NPD numbers for the U.S. video games market. Atop the software list is Anthem from BioWare and EA. Nintendo Switch continues to dominate in the hardware sales department, although hardware is down year-over-year.
The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella released a whole host of information regarding the February 2019 NPD numbers. For starters, total video game sales topped $1 billion in the United States, with $316 million coming from hardware. That’s a 12 percent decline from last year, but software and accessories are up in comparison. The top 10 best-selling video games for February 2019 are as follows:
- Anthem^
- Jump Force
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- Far Cry New Dawn
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate*
- Metro Exodus^
- NBA 2K19
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
* Digital sales not included
^ PC digital sales not included
While Anthem had a rough launch by way of reception, it sold well for EA and BioWare. It is the second best-selling game of 2019, behind Kingdom Hearts 3, and is the second best launch for a BioWare game, trailing 2012’s Mass Effect 3.
New releases also near the top are anime fighter Jump Force and Far Cry New Dawn, a direct sequel to last year’s Far Cry 5. Jump Force became the third highest total achieved for a Bandai Namco published title, and is the fourth best-selling game of 2019.
Metro Exodus comes in at number eight, and that’s without sales on the Epic Games Store. PC fans were frustrated by the slapdash approach publisher Deep Silver when it pulled Exodus from Steam to be launched as a timed exclusive on Epic Games Store. In any case, PC numbers weren’t reported anyways and the game sold nearly 50 percent better than Metro: Last Light in its launch month.
On the hardware side of things, Nintendo continues to dominate with the Switch as it sold the most for the month and year. Nintendo had its highest February month hardware dollar sales since February 2011, when the Nintendo 3DS released.
