NPD Group has released numbers covering video game sales in December 2017, including full-year records for video games on all platforms in the United States.
The Nintendo Switch, about to turn a year old in March, is selling like hotcakes still, managing to push 1.5 million units in December alone. But here's something far more surprising: the Nintendo 3DS was able to push 750,000 units in the same month, which is an impressive feat for what's already considered a relatively ancient handheld. Perhaps a huge portion of those sales was helped by the release of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, in addition to Metroid: Samus Returns.
NPD 2017 Video Games Sales
Now, on to video game sales. The best-selling game of 2017 was Call of Duty: WWII, followed by NBA 2K18, Destiny 2, Madden NFL 18, then Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In theory, both Destiny 2 and Breath of the Wild could have ranked higher up the charts had PC sales for the former and digital sales for the latter been included.
Read the best-selling video games of 2017 below:
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Call of Duty: WWII
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NBA 2K18
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Destiny 2 — PC sales not included in final tally.
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Madden NFL 18
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Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — digital sales not included in final tally.
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Grand Theft Auto V
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Ghost Recon: Wildlands
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Star Wars: Battlefront II — PC sales not included in final tally.
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Super Mario Odyssey — digital sales not included in final tally.
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Mario Kart 8 — digital sales not included in final tally.
2017 was a big year for video games. In December alone, game sales racked up $1.3 billion, while full-year game sales rose 4 percent to $6.7 billion. There were 314 packed games released in 2017, significantly larger than the 271 in 2016, representing a 16 percent uptick.
The most successful genre was Racing games, which saw its sales rise 68 percent compared with 2016's results. But the most profitable was the Shooter genre, naturally as both Call of Duty: WWII and Battlefront II are on the chart.
Nintendo Is Winning
Thanks to the Switch, Nintendo is back at the top of its game. The Switch, as the company has announced previously, has sold more units in the United States in its first 10 months than any other platform in history, marking an impressive comeback after the tragic failure of the Wii U.
Thoughts about about NPD's best-selling video games of 2017? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
