NPD releases their monthly sales chart

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite's sales have been a topic of active discussion for a couple of weeks now. Though we haven't seen official numbers for the game's largest market, North America, or the overall sales, what we've seen so far hasn't looked promising.

Media Crate recently reported that MvCI sold just over 8,000 copies on the PlayStation 4 in Japan, which doesn't appear great when stacked up against Pokken Tournament DX -- a game released a few days after Marvel Infinite -- which sold 53,395 copies in its first week.

In the UK, the game placed twelfth on the overall charts, according to Metro Gaming. And in the U.S., Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite placed 19th on PlayStation Store's top download charts.

These metrics have fans concerned about the game's performance. As previously mentioned, we cannot see the full picture yet, and we should be learning much more when Capcom's investor relations report is released later this month. Today, we do have the NPD sales chart for September 2017, however, which adds a large piece to the puzzle.

The NPD lists the top 20 best-selling games each month, based on dollar sales in the U.S.. "This includes full-game digital sales (from participating publishers) as well as sales for physical formats sold at retail and online across console, PC and portable platforms," the official website states.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite placed 6th on the top 20 list for September 2017.

GameSpot shared NPD's charts today, which show how Marvel Infinite stacked up against several other titles.

In addition to placing 6th on the overall list, the game was the 8th best-selling title on Xbox One last month, and 5th best-selling on PlayStation 4.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite secured these spots despite only being available for the last 12 days of September. Check out the NPD lists below.

September 2017 Top 20 Games (All Platforms) *Titles marked with an asterisk do not include digital sales*



1. Destiny 2*

2. NBA 2K18

3. Madden NFL 18

4. FIFA 18

5. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle*

6. Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

7. Grand Theft Auto V

8. NHL 18

9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*

10. Rainbow Six Siege

11. Mario Kart 8*

12. Metroid: Samus Returns*

13. Pokken Tournament*

14. Overwatch*

15. Ark: Survival Evolved*

16. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

17. NBA Live 18

18. Splatoon 2*

19. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

20. Minecraft

September 2017 Top 10 Xbox One Games 1. Destiny 2

2. NBA 2K18

3. Madden NFL 18

4. FIFA 18

5. NHL 18

6. Grand Theft Auto V

7. Rainbow Six Siege

8. Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

9. Overwatch

10. Ark: Survival Evolved*

September 2017 Top 10 PS4 Games 1. Destiny 2

2. NBA 2K18

3. Madden NFL 18

4. FIFA 18

5. Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

6. Grand Theft Auto V

7. NHL 18

8. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

9. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

10. Rainbow Six Siege

When Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was first released back in February 2011, it placed number two on the NPD top 10 chart, outranked only by Call of Duty: Black Ops. At the time, NPD reported that Black Ops was the best selling game in U.S. history, which was still going strong despite its release in November 2010.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 -- the follow up to the versus title that added new characters and content -- did not bode so well at first. Upon release in November 2011, UMvC3 did not even place on the NPD chart.

The game's initial sales came in at around 600,000 copies, which is not a strong start by any stretch. Over the course of the following couple of years, however, UMvC3 turned things around and doubled that sales figure, bringing the total up to 1.2 million total units moved.

While cases like this don't happen all the time, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's spike in performance shows that games can indeed pick up speed after a disappointing launch.

We have also seen virtually the inverse of this with a game like Street Fighter X Tekken. In March 2012, the crossover title placed sixth on the NPD chart, selling 1.4 million units at launch.

The game's sales never really picked up steam, netting a mere 400,000 additional units moved and bringing the total up to 1.8 million. This is likely attributed to the numerous issues the game faced, which led to a fast decline of interest in the fighting game community.

But the most recent parallel we can draw here is to Street Fighter 5, Capcom's other blockbuster fighting title on the market today. The latest numbered installment in the franchise saw a fairly rough launch, both in the eyes of the fans and sales-wise.

When first released, Street Fighter 5 landed at the 7th spot on the NPD chart for February 2016. The game sold 1.4 million copies across PlayStation 4 and PC, which is about 600,000 short of Capcom's 2 million units sold goal.

As of July 2017, Street Fighter 5 has picked up to 1.7 million sales, and with the launch of Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition coming in January and the continuation of the Capcom Pro Tour, we will likely see another uptick in units moved.

So what does this all mean for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite? Basically, early success or failure is not the be all and end all for a game and its future.

Over the years, we have seen instances where Capcom fighting titles have fallen off after a weak launch -- like Street Fighter X Tekken, whose sales stagnated after being plagued by gameplay issues and some bad publicity -- and those that have thrived despite a lack of continued support from the developers, like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom: 3.

Capcom has DLC plans in place for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and shortly after launch we already has an active eSports circuit in The Battle for the Stones tournament series.

While sales are an indicator of how well a game is doing, they are not the only indicator.

Aside from issues with the game's overall looks and current roster, the competitive community seems to be enjoying Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite at this point in time. We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for the game.