Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War returned to the top of the NPD charts in March, and Switch was once again the best-selling console.
The NPD March 2021 report has been released, and it finds total industry spending reaching a March record of $5.6 billion, which is up 18% over March 2020. First-quarter spending totaled $14.9 billion, up 30% year-over-year.
Hardware dollar sales were 47% higher year-over-year (yoy), and set a March record of $680 million, compared to the previous high of $552 million which occurred in March 2008.
Year-to-date hardware spending came in at $1.4 billion, which is up 81% yoy.
Once again, Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware in both units and dollars during March. In the first quarter, Switch was the unit sales leader while PlayStation 5 ranked first in hardware dollar sales.
The latter is the fastest-selling console in US history in both unit and dollar sales with five months on the market.
In software, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War returned to the top slot in March. The game was also the best-selling title of both the first quarter as well as the 12-month period ending March.
Monster Hunter: Rise debuted as the month’s second best-seller, and was also the best-selling game on Switch. Lifetime dollar sales of the game rank as the second-highest of all Monster Hunter franchise releases, trailing only Monster Hunter: World.
Outriders debuted in third place on the Top 20 chart and was the third best-selling game on both PlayStation and Xbox.
February’s number one title, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, came in fourth place, followed by Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mario Kart 8, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Suoer Mario 3D all-Stars, and Minecraft.
The March release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time on Switch helped the title rise to number 15 on the best-sellers chart after placing 65th in February.
A look at the best-selling games for March can be found above. The best-selling games for individual consoles can be found in the gallery.
Spending on accessories reached a March record of $300 million, which is up 26% yoy. During the first quarter, accessories sales totaled $717 million, up 42% yoy.
The PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller White was once again the leading accessory in dollar sales for the month as well as the first quarter.
The post Black Ops Cold War and Switch top the March NPD charts appeared first on VG247.
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