The NPD Group has released its data for video game software and hardware sales in the United States for the month of October, shared by NPD analyst Mat Piscatella on Twitter, and with a number of major new games having launched in October, there’s quite a bit of activity in the charts.
The best-selling game of the month was Far Cry 6, which doesn’t come as much of surprise. It topped individual software charts on both PlayStation and Xbox, and has instantly become the eighth best-selling game of the year. In second place is Back 4 Blood, which occupies the same spot in the PlayStation and Xbox charts as well.
Meanwhile, Metroid Dread has also seen a solid launch month. Debuting in third place, the game was the best-selling Switch game of the month, and managed the highest ever launch month sales for any Metroid game to date. Its launch sales are nearly twice as high as those of Metroid Prime, which previously held that record.
There a number of other new releases that figure in the top 10 of the software charts as well, including Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles in fifth place, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in seventh place, Mario Party Superstars in eighth place, and NHL 22 in ninth place.
On the hardware front, while the PS5 emerged as the dominant console in September, the Nintendo Switch, buoyed by the launched of the Switch OLED, has come out on top once more. It was the best-selling console of the month in terms of both, units sold and revenue generated. The Switch is still the best-selling console of 2021 in unit sales, while the PS5 remains on top for the year in terms of dollar sales.
Check out Piscatella’s tweets below for a much more detailed breakdown of NPD’s October 2021 data.