US game sales peaked in 2020, with total spending reaching $ 56.9 billion. This is a 27% year-on-year increase, according to the latest NPD report.
Software accounted for the vast majority (86%) of this figure, with spending on game content reaching $ 48.9 billion in 2020. It included physical and digital games, DLC and subscription on console, cloud, mobile, portable, PC and VR. Software sales increased by 26% compared to 2019.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the best-selling game of 2020, followed by another CoD title, Modern Warfare. This is the 12th year in a row that the Call of Duty franchise is in the top of the US annual charts – a record. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has reached the 3rd place for 2020.
“In 2020, [Animal Crossing: New Horizons] achieved the highest sales in physical dollars for a game released by Nintendo in a calendar year since Wii Fit Plus in 2010, “said Mat Piscatella, VG industry analyst at NPD.
In terms of exclusives, The Last of Us: Part II was the best-selling PlayStation exclusive of 2020 in the US and became Sony’s third best-selling game of all time in the country, following in the footsteps of Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2018 God of War.
But hardware grew even more than software, with console revenue reaching $ 5.3 billion last year, up 35% from $ 3.9 billion in 2019. Hardware sales were last year’s highest since reaching $ 5.6 billion in 2011. 2011 was an important year for the Xbox 360, with a number of major titles and the first year of the Kinect accessory – it was also the year in which the launch of the Nintendo 3DS appeared.
Not surprisingly, the best-selling console of 2020 was the Nintendo Switch, followed by the PlayStation 5 when analyzing the value ranking and the PlayStation 4 when analyzing the number of units changed.
“Annual dollar sales of Nintendo Switch hardware were the second largest single platform in a single calendar year in US history,” Piscatella said. “Only the 2008 Nintendo Wii sales in dollars were higher.”
Money spent on gaming accessories also increased by 21% in 2020, to a total of $ 2.6 billion. Sony’s DualSense wireless controller was the best-selling gamepad in 2020, while the Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 70 Gaming Black headset for Xbox was the best-selling headset of the year.
The NPD report also highlighted the best-selling songs from December 2020, with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War taking first place, followed by Cyberpunk 2077 (for which digital sales were not tracked) and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Consumer spending broke records in December, reaching $ 7.7 billion, up 25% year-on-year.
Hardware sales in December rose 38 percent to $ 1.32 billion – the highest total for a month since December 2013. Nintendo Switch was also the best-selling platform in December.
Here are the top 20 games (physical and digital) in 2020 ranked in dollar sales, data provided by NPD:
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Activision Blizzard) |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Activision Blizzard) |
| 3 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons * (Nintendo) |
| 4 | Madden NFL 21 (EA) |
| 5 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft) |
| 6 | The Last of Us: Part II (Sony) |
| 7 | Ghost of Tsushima (Sony) |
| 8 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe * (Nintendo) |
| 9 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars * (Nintendo) |
| 10 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix) |
| 11 | Marvel Avengers (Square Enix) |
| 12 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony) |
| 13 | NBA 2K21 * (Take-Two Interactive) |
| 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate * (Nintendo) |
| 15 | FIFA 21 (EA) |
| 16 | Mortal Kombat 11 (Warner Bros.) |
| 17 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (Bandai Namco) * |
| 18 | MLB: The Show 20 (Sony) |
| 19 | Cyberpunk 2077 * (Warner Bros.) |
| 20 | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Activision Blizzard) |
* Digital sales are not included