The NPD Group today released their report for the games industry in March 2021, and there's a lot of good news to go around.
March 2021 and Q1 2021 were extremely positive for the industry with an 18% increase and 30% increase in consumer spending, respectively. Hardware in particular saw a massive boost over March 2020 and Q1 2020 thanks to the presence of new consoles and overall higher demand for gaming. Hardware dollar sales in March 2021 increased 47% to a new March record of $680 million.
Nintendo Switch won the month in terms of both units and dollars. However, Q1 results were split. Switch was the best-selling console in units, but PS5 beat it in hardware dollar sales. Probably the best news Sony can take from this month's report is that the PS5 is now the fastest-selling console in U.S. history in both unit and dollar sales. That's despite the ongoing pandemic and worldwide chip shortage.
Moving over to software, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reclaimed the top spot. The Activision shooter continues to sell well across all available platforms. New debuts Monster Hunter Rise and Outriders came in second and third-place, respectively. Finally, Mario Kart 8 not only climbed to sixth-place but also became the best-selling racing game in U.S. history.
Here are the Top 10 best-selling games of March 2021:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Monster Hunter Rise (New)
- Outriders (New)
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Mario Kart 8
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Minecraft