July 2019 NPD: Nintendo assembles 6 games in the top 10

Consumers in the United States spent less on hardware once again in July, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. But a deluge of new releases pushed up software sales.

Here are the full results for July 2019:

“July 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards totaled $762 million, slightly higher than a year ago,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Gains in software spending due to the shift of Madden NFL into the July tracking month offset declines across hardware, accessories, and game cards.”

And when you look at the year as a whole, sales are down slightly, and that’s due primarily to the slowing hardware segment.

“Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards has fallen 4 percent when compared to 2018, to $6.4 billion,” said Piscatella. “Declines in hardware spending have offset growth in software sales.”

Let’s get to the software charts, and click here if you want details about hardware and accessory sales.

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.

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

“Dollar sales of tracked video game software reached $340 million in July 2019, 34% higher than a year ago,” said Piscatella. “This change was driven by the shift of Madden NFL into the July 2019 tracking period after it launched in the August 2018 tracking period.”

Through the first seven months of the year, game sales are up.

“Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked video game software have increased 5 percent, to $2.9 billion,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 have experienced software sales growth year to date.”

That will likely change later this holiday because 2019 likely won’t have any games that match the scale of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Madden NFL 20

“Madden NFL 20 was July’s best-selling video game,” said Piscatella. “This is the 20th consecutive year that a Madden NFL franchise game has been the best-selling title of its release month. Madden NFL 20 immediately becomes the eighth best-selling game of 2019 year to date. Madden Football remains the best-selling sports property in U.S. history.”

It’s worth noting that Madden’s sales do not include PC digital or people who subscribe to Origin Access Premier. That $15-per-month membership includes Madden NFL 20 at no additional cost.

“Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the second best-selling video game of July 2019,” said Piscatella. “Fire Emblem: Three Houses represents the largest launch of a Fire Emblem game in U.S. history, with launch month sales tripling those of the previous best-seller in release month, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Fire Emblem: Three Houses instantly becomes the second best-selling game in franchise lifetime sales, trailing only Fire Emblem: Awakening.”

Three Houses is another huge step forward for the franchise, and these numbers do not include any digital sales.

Nintendo

“Six of the top 10 best-selling video games of July 2019 are Nintendo platform exclusives,” said Piscatella.

In addition to Fire Emblem, the June release Super Mario Maker 2 finished at No. 3. Meanwhile, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 – The Black Order, a Switch exclusive, was No. 4.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Mortal Kombat 11

“Mortal Kombat 11 is the best-selling video game of 2019 year to date,” said Piscatella. “Lifetime sales of Mortal Kombat 11 are now the second highest in franchise history, as only Mortal Kombat X has generated higher dollar sales. Mortal Kombat 11 is now the fifth best-selling fighting game in history.”

The rest of the software charts

The 10 best-selling games of 2019 so far

Top 10 best-selling games over the last 12 months

Xbox One (July 2019 NPD)

PlayStation 4 (July 2019 NPD)

Nintendo Switch (July 2019 NPD)

Nintendo 3DS (July 2019 NPD)