We figured that the PlayStation 4, in its fifth term, was going to make way for the newer Nintendo Switch in the NPD hardware charts this year, but it’s actually maintained its position at the top for much of 2018 thus far. A slow July means that it couldn’t quite make it six months in a row, though, as the Big N’s hybrid – fuelled by an impressive Octopath Traveler – took the top spot this time.
As has been the case all year, however, all three major platforms are performing positively in the United States; PS4 is still the top-selling system of the year overall, while even the Xbox One is enjoying a mini-resurgence compared to 2017. Overall industry spend for 2018 so far is up an impressive 17 per cent year-over-year, and there’s still a bumper holiday release schedule to come.
In terms of software, the PS4 relied on some of its evergreen titles, as the schedule was practically barren in July. Grand Theft Auto V finished in second position, while exclusives like God of War, Detroit: Become Human, and MLB The Show 18 continued to perform further down the software charts. Kratos’ revival is still the second best-selling game of the year so far.
We suspect that August will be another slower month for Sony, but things are really going to kick into overdrive again with Spider-Man and the slew of heavy hitters scheduled to follow it thereafter. It’s going to be fascinating to see how the Japanese giant prices its platform this holiday: is it finally time for a price drop, or can it still manage one last holiday at $299.99? We’ll find out soon.
NPD Software Top 20: July 2018
- Octopath Traveler*
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Mario Kart 8*
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Far Cry 5
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Crew 2
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Mario Tennis Aces *
- FIFA 18**
- LEGO The Incredibles
- God of War
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker*
- NBA 2K18
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Detroit: Become Human
- MLB The Show 18
- Minecraft**
- Destiny 2**
NPD PS4 Software Top 10: July 2018
- Grand Theft Auto V
- God of War
- Detroit: Become Human
- MLB The Show 18
- The Crew 2
- Far Cry 5
- FIFA 18
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- NBA 2K18
NPD Best Selling Games of 2018 So Far
- Far Cry 5
- God of War
- Monster Hunter: World
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Dragon Ball Fighterz
- Mario Kart 8*
- NBA 2K18
- MLB The Show 18
- Super Mario Odyssey
* No digital sales included
** No PC digital sales included
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 29
It was an incredibly quiet month here in the PlayStation Nation. I actually managed to check off some of my backlog.
Monster Hunter: World announced 10 million sold recently after launching on PC. Does that mean God of War has sold over 10 million copies, or are we only talking about Monster Hunter sales on console?
Mental to see a game like Octopath Traveler topping the US software charts.
Actually some quite impressive performance for exclusives of late. God of War, Detroit, and MLB are all in the top five of the PS4 specific charts, which is somewhat unexpected this far from launch.
@deepspace5d Remember that NPD just tracks USA. Those MonHun numbers were for the whole world.
my 2 favorite franchises grand theft auto 1 and god of war number 2.in. july i guess i was born to l💕ve those franchises.word up son
@get2sammyb Yes, how dare a JRPG do so well in the West ahead of Dragon Quest XI releasing...
Still, nice to see. Apparently Nintendo is also the top publisher for the year or some crap I dunno.
The real story here though, is come the hell on GTAV!!!
@Knuckles-Fajita Ah, good ol' Knuckles-Fajita, making something out of nothing! I said it was "mental" because it's impressive; I don't have an issue with it in the slightest — in fact I think it's pretty cool.
@get2sammyb Strange, normally you have nothing positive to say about the competition, or their games. And "It's mad a game sold so well" is usually a sign of disdain around this neck of the UK.
Regardless, games will sell. Someone has to want them for them to be made.
Again though, the real story is GTAV pulling moves like that.
@Knuckles-Fajita You see what you want to see.
@get2sammyb I see GTAV topping software sales for two systems well over 5 years after release, and that's somehow ahead of blockbuster recent releases.
@ShogunRok Spider-Man is coming and our happy nation will celebrate again.
@Knuckles-Fajita Sammy praised the game and how it conquered the first place. You Nintendo peeps are paranoid.
@PS_Nation "Nintendo peeps?"
Err...son. You do know that most of my life has been spent on PS2 games right? That I started with the PS1, right through to now, thanks to Spyro, and spent 1000s of hours on the PS2 Ratchet games alone.
For a "Nintendo peep" I sure don't like their consoles or games much...
September is coming.
@Enuo greatness... awaits
Gotta love it when publishers really don’t care much for the Summer...
@Derpie1 Imagine if dragon quest 11, tomb raider 3 or battlefield 5 release this july or august, it will sell so well because there's no competition.
@ShogunRok I can play dead cells and guacamelee 2 in peace before september onslaught
Wonderful to see Nintendo do so well, despite many still discounting them and their ideas.
Seems I'll be getting DQ11 next month, too.
Just recalling when Persona 5 took everyone by surprise and topped the charts.
Obviously still a crowd wanting turn based RPGs.
It's nice to see the entire industry so healthy again.
Anyway, software is queen. It's no coincidence that Nintendo won the one month it also happened to publish an exciting exclusive.
BTW, can we talk about how cool it is that games like Octopath Traveler and Persona 5 are doing so well worldwide?
But nah. Nobody wants turn-based JRPGS, and single player games are dead.
Spiderman is 2 weeks away 😊
@wiiware if July then Sony would’ve hit thier 6 months in a row...
@Knuckles-Fajita Why are you always so salty anytime Sammy says anything?
@Knuckles-Fajita Cool story, I played the Mega Drive, Saturn, Dreamcast and GameCube more than any other system yet I get labelled a Sony pony online.
A Japanese game clearly aimed at the Japanese audience actually topped the NPD charts. Now granted there are various reasons for this but it's still big news and I hope it makes other Japanese developers/publishers wake up and realize you don't have to dumb everything down and cater it towards 'Western tastes' for these kind of games to do well in the West. Just make a good product and advertise it well.
@Knuckles-Fajita
Your attempts to twist Sammy's words and start an argument are so frequent now. Not sure what you're trying to achieve here but I sense it's a pointless endeavour. Might be worth considering changing your mindset for a more positive one. I bet you'll feel a lot better if you do.
I for one can't stand Push Square slamming the competition by praising its performance.
@Gamer83 Keep in mind that Ninty exclusives tend to do well. Plenty of other great JRPGs don't sell anywhere near as much.
Still, there is definitely an audience for them in the West.
I don't know why anyone replies to Knuckles Fajita. Putting him on Ignore on here and Nintendo Life makes each site so much more enjoyable.
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