Assassin’s Creed Takes No.2
According to the NPD Sales Chart, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War has seized the no.1 spot for October software sales. Coming in at no.2, we have Assassin’s Creed: Origins, which makes it official – People prefer Middle-Earth over ancient Egypt. Despite these revelations, it looks like video game money is down from what it was this time last year, with a decrease of 11%.
The decline in sales is a surprise, considering the number of releases last month. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said the following:
“Total video game spending in October 2017, which includes hardware, software and accessories, fell 11 percent versus year ago to $825 million. Gains in hardware spending were offset by declines in software and accessories.”
However, there are variables to consider, such as the lack of data from dedicated stores like Battle.net. Moreover, multiple highly anticipated AAA releases; Wolfenstein II, Super Mario Odyssey, and AC: Origins released during the very last week of October.
Total video game revenue for the month of October can be found below, courtesy of VentureBeat:
- Hardware: $238 million (up 10 percent from $216 million)
- Console software: $447 million (down 20 percent from $556 million)
- PC software: $27 million (down 29 percent from $38 million)
- Accessories: $113 million (down 7 percent from $122 million)
- Total: $825 million (down 11 percent from $932 million in October 2016)
As for October financial rankings, here are the top 20 names:
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- Super Mario Odyssey**
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole
- NBA 2K18
- FIFA 18
- WWE 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- Destiny 2*
- Forza Motorsport 7
- Gran Turismo Sport
- Grand Theft Auto V
- The Evil Within 2**
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus**
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
- Mario Kart 8**
- Fire Emblem: Warriors**
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- NHL 18
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Thanks to the Nintendo Switch and SNES Classic, hardware sales were up from last year. If the Switch can maintain its momentum, it may (keyword: ‘may’) eventually catch up to the PlayStation 4, which sits as the top-selling hardware of this generation. More interesting, let’s see how it stacks up to the Xbox One X this month. Check back for updates.