2020 is done and over. It was a year almost assuredly many won’t forget, even if they desperately want to. The final month of the year tends to be something of a snapshot of the entire year, and December 2020 wasn’t much different. In the US, the charts had a lot of the usual suspects, with one franchise on top as you’d expect it to be, and Nintendo in the strongest position they’ve been in in decades.
As per data provided by the NPD Group (via VentureBeat), December’s top 20 saw Black Ops Cold War at #1, which is no surprise since it was also the best selling game of the year in the region. Right below it was Cyberpunk 2077, which we know sold at least 13 million copies last month in total across all regions. Keep in mind, 2077 hits this list without digital sales, apparently. Whether that would have helped it topple Cold War is somewhat iffy, but even so, number 2 is impressive.
While the rest of the list is populated by a lot of games you’d expect such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Miles Morales, and the various sports entries, what is maybe the most noteworthy is how much Nintendo dominated this list. Their first party titles are seeing strong sales all throughout, even early releases such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and many of the sports titles are on the Switch and being factored in such as NBA 2K21 and FIFA 21. All Nintendo first party titles are also in here without digital numbers being provided, just to add to how incredible a feat it is.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Cyberpunk 2077*
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Madden NFL 21
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*
- NBA 2K21*
- Immortals Fenyx Rising
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Just Dance 2021
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity*
- FIFA 21
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Super Mario Party*
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Mortal Kombat 11
* Indicates that digital sales are not included.