New Releases Disappoint During Slow Month As Madden NFL 20 Tops August NPD Charts

August 2019 was the worst August in terms of software sales in the United States, as per the NPD Group (via GamesBeat). Dollar sales fell 22 per cent year-on-year to $257 million, which is the lowest recorded for the month of August since the August of 1998, with the slowdown of hardware sales resulting in the same. That said, year-to-date software sales for 2019 stand at $3.1 billion, which is a 1 per cent increase over last year- driven by growing software sales on the Nintendo Switch.

It’s been a pretty slow month for software sales in the United States all around. Madden NFL 20, which topped software charts last month, has done so yet again. It’s the third best-selling game of 2019 in the US, and this is the seventh consecutive August to see a Madden game topping the software charts. The other two games in the top 3 are considerably older, with Minecraft occupying second place – the highest the game has ever charted on NPD charts – while the evergreen Grand Theft Auto 5 refuses to slow down in third place.

The entire top 10 has only one new August release charting, in fact, which is Astral Chain. Considering the fact that the game’s sales were only tracked for two days for these charts, placing tenth is not too bad. Another game that only tracked for two days is Man of Medan, which comes in at No. 19- though that’s a $30 game, which affects its placement in the software charts, which are based on revenue, and not the number of units sold.

Control was yet another major release in August, but it’s seen a disappointing debut. Charting for five days, it did not even crack the top 20. Meanwhile, Triumph Studios’ Age of Wonders: Planetfall comes in at No. 15, generating the highest launch month sales in the series’ history.

You can check out the full software charts below.

1. Madden NFL 20**
2. Minecraft***
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Fire Emblem: Three Houses*
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Super Mario Maker 2*
7. Mario Kart 8*
8. Mortal Kombat 11
9. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
10. Astral Chain*
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man
12. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
13. Red Dead Redemption II
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
15. Age of Wonders: Planetfall
16. Super Mario Party*
17. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order*
18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
19. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
20. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but not other digital sales.