Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War, which launched in September, was the best-selling video game of October according to data gathered by the NPD Group.
Super Mario Odyssey was the number one seller of physical units, while Shadow Of War topped the charts when accounting for digital sales as well. The new Mario game came in #3 overall for the month, and drove the third highest launch month for a
Mario title in tracked history following New Super Mario Bros Wii and Super Mario Galaxy.
Overall, video game spending was down 11% compared to last year, coming in at $825 million. Growth in hardware was offset by lower sales of software and accessories, though last October saw the massive launch of Battlefield 1, making a year-over-year comparison more difficult.
Year to date, consumer video game spending in the US is up 3% to $4.2 billion.
Destiny 2 is now the best-selling game in the 12 month period ending on Oct. 31, finally outstripping Battlefield 1 which fell to third place.
Ubisoft was the top-selling publisher of the month, while Activision is the top-selling publisher so far in 2017.
Hardware
Hardware spending hit $238 million in October, up 10% from last year. Hardware growth was driven largely by the Nintendo Switch and SNES Classic.
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of October, while PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling system in 2017.
Overall, hardware spending is way up in 2017, growing 19% to $2.3 billion, largely driven by Nintendo's releases and the PS4.
It will be interesting to see how the Xbox One X fares in November. Will Microsoft finally make a decent showing in 2017?
Top 20 Best-Selling Games Of October
- 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
(Note: NPD tracks physical and digital sales of games released on Xbox One and PS4 but not digital sales of Nintendo titles.)
Top 10 Best-Selling Games Year-To-Date
- Destiny 2
- NBA 2K18
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- Madden NFL 18
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Grand Theft Auto V
- For Honor
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Injustice 2
- Mario Kart 8
I'm continually surprised that GTA V remains on these lists month after month. I'm also impressed by the success of Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which never seemed to make a huge stir this year but must have sold incredibly well. Mass Effect: Andromeda was in tenth place last month and was bumped out of that slot by Mario Kart 8, likely via a well-timed red shell.
Top 10 Best-Selling Games In The Past 12 Months (Rolling)
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Destiny 2
- Battlefield 1
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NBA 2K18
- NBA 2K17
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- Madden NFL 18
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Final Fantasy XV
Of these titles, half launched prior to 2017. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, NBA 2K17 and Final Fantasy XV all launched in 2016. Grand Theft Auto V launched in 2013 on last-gen machines and in 2014 on PS4 and Xbox One, with a 2015 PC release. It's still going strong.
November will obviously change the equation across the board with the launch of Call Of Duty: World War II, sales of which are already much better than Infinite Warfare.
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