Nintendo Switch and Splatoon 2 lifts US games market in July Sales for July up 19% as Splatoon 2 outsells Crash Bandicoot

Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B Friday 18th August 2017 Share this article Share

Nintendo is continuing to dominate the US games market, with Switch the best-selling console of July.

The console's success was boosted by the arrival of new stock alongside Splatoon 2. The Switch exclusive paint shooter was the No.1 game of the month, beating Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy down to No.2 (the Activision title is in its second month on the charts, and was at No.4 in June).

July is not a major month for the games industry, but it was still a stronger month than the year prior. Software sales (excluding PC) pulled in $263m, a rise of 17% compared with July 2016. Hardware sales, driven by Switch, rose 29% year-on-year to $182m, while accessories are up 9% to $129m. PC game sales also rose, from $12m to $14m - up 14%. In total, $588m was made from video game products last month in the US, a rise of 19% year-on-year.

Nintendo had three games in the Top Seven, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at No.5 and Mario Kart 8 at No.7. Both games may have charted higher if Nintendo shared its digital data with NPD. It's currently one of just a few companies that doesn't share its download figures.

Elsewhere, there are three Call of Duty games in the Top 20, with Modern Warfare Remastered joining Black Ops III and Infinite Warfare. Over the past 12 months, Infinite Warfare is the best-selling game in the US, despite the title underperforming from Activision's perspective.

As for 2017, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is the best-selling game of the year so far, and Ubisoft remains the No.1 publisher in the US. In total, software sales are up less than 1% in 2017 versus 2016 (year-to-date).

Sticking with the whole year, PS4 remains the country's best-selling console so far. Overall hardware sales are up 20% in 2016 to $1.6bn, and that's been driven by Nintendo's Switch, despite stock issues.

In the accessories sector, it is Nintendo Switch and Xbox One accessories that have caused the spending growth. However, the toys-to-life segment continues to struggle, so far this year sales of 'interactive gaming toys' are down 39%.

Here are the best-selling games of July according to NPD:

1 Splatoon 2 2 Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy 3 Grand Theft Auto V 4 Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age 5 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 6 Injustice 2 7 Mario Kart 8 8 Overwatch 9 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege 10 NBA 2K17 11 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands 12 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered 13 Call of Duty: Black Ops III 14 Minecraft 15 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare 16 MLB 17: The Show 17 Arms 18 Battlefield 1 19 Mass Effect: Andromeda 20 Tekken 7

And here are the best-selling games of 2017 so far: