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While the failure continues for the gaming industry beyond 2021, hardware sales look particularly promising. According to industry tracking company The NPD Group, hardware spending has risen, while annual spending is still negative. Sports games are also taking their place as fall’s best-sellers, as is typical. Other new games are hitting the top of the charts, including Splatoon 3 and The Last of Us Part 1.
| September 2022 Dollar Sales, Millions | September 2021 |
September 2022 |
Change |
| Total video game sales | $4,260 | $4,073 | -4% |
| Video game content (physical and digital full game, DLC/MTX and consumer releases for subscriptions on console, cloud, mobile*, wearable, PC and VR platforms) | $3,676 | $3,408 | -7% |
| Video game hardware | $410 | $490 | 19% |
| Video Game Accessories | $174 | $174 | 0% |
“U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories reached $4.1 billion in September 2022, down 4% from the same month a year ago,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
The increase in hardware sales is largely due to the greater range of the PlayStation 5. It’s not as hard to find as before, and it ranked first in both unit and dollar sales. Hardware has been one of the areas of constant growth in recent months.
| Year-to-date 2022 dollars in revenue, millions | YTD 2021 |
YTD 2022 |
Change |
| Total video game sales | $41,800 | $38,398 | -8% |
| Video game content (physical and digital full game, DLC/MTX and consumer releases for subscriptions on console, cloud, mobile*, wearable, PC and VR platforms) | $36,611 | $33,486 | -9% |
| Video game hardware | $3,408 | $3,359 | -1% |
| Video Game Accessories | $1,781 | $1,554 | -13% |
Piscatella added: “To date, total video game spending for content, hardware and accessories is now 8% lower than in 2021 at $38.4 billion.”
September 2022 NPD: Top 20 Best Selling Games of the Month in the US
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but also gets digital data directly from publishers. Not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales and Activision Blizzard doesn’t deliver its Battle.net sales.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales – not number of units sold. And this is for full game sales and does not include in-game expenses.
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW ONES | FIFA 23 | Electronic art |
| 2 | 1 | Madden NFL 23 | Electronic art |
| 3 | NEW ONES | NBA 2K23* | Take-Two Interactive (Corp) |
| 4 | NEW ONES | Splatoon 3* | Nintendo |
| 5 | NEW ONES | The Last of Us: Part 1 | Sony (company) |
| 6 | NEW ONES | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 7 | 2 | Saints Row (2022) | plaion |
| 8 | NEW ONES | JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 9 | 4 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 10 | 6 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 11 | 7 | Minecraft | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 12 | 3 | Marvel’s Spider-Man | Sony (company) |
| 13 | 8 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 14 | 16 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 15 | 24 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 16 | 12 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| 17 | 13 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 18 | 36 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 19 | 9 | MLB: The Show 22^ | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 20 | 39 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
^Xbox & Switch digital sales not included
The list of best-selling games is everywhere this month – a mix of new releases and lower-ranked games taking a leap in the rankings. It’s no longer just Elden Ring and LEGO Star Wars that dominate the charts, as they have for most of the year. Last month’s release Saints Row continues to score well, and Marvel’s Spider-Man still scores high (sorry) on the PC release.
Some of the older games that get a rank boost are Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. The new interest in Valhalla probably comes from a recent update, as well as Ubisoft’s conference in early September, which revealed the future of the AC franchise. Likewise, Bandai Namco brought news of updates to Kakarot during the recent Tokyo Game Show, which is probably why it has moved up a few ranks as well.
FIFA 23
You may see a theme for the games at the top of the list. Madden, NBA and FIFA games are all there, making it quite a sporty month. However, this is no surprise. If you look at NPD’s charts for September 2021, the same three franchises are in the top three (not in the same order). It is also the swan song of the FIFA game series, which will live under the new title EA Sports FC.
Splatoon 3
Several new games are on the list this month, including Splatoon 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cobabunga Collection, The Last of Us Part 1, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. Since these are all linked to popular franchises, it’s no surprise that they did well. Notably, Splatoon 3 sold several million copies in Japan within three days of its launch. The above ranking is particularly impressive as Nintendo does not include digital sales in its ranking.
September 2022 NPD: 20 best-selling games of 2022 so far
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | 5 | Madden NFL 23 | Electronic art |
| 4 | 3 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 4 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| 6 | 6 | MLB: The Show 22^ | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 7 | 7 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 8 | 8 | Gran Turismo 7 | Sony (company) |
| 9 | 9 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 10 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 11 | NEW ONES | FIFA 23 | Electronic art |
| 12 | 11 | Minecraft | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 13 | 13 | Nintendo Switch Sports* | Nintendo |
| 14 | 12 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic art |
| 15 | 21 | Saints Row (2022) | plaion |
| 16 | 14 | FIFA 22 | Electronic art |
| 17 | 16 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 18 | 15 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (company) |
| 19 | 18 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 20 | 17 | Monster Hunter: Rise | Capcom USA |
^Xbox & Switch digital sales not included
September 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling games of the past 12 months
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 3 | 4 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 4 | 5 | Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 6 | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic art |
| 6 | 13 | Madden NFL 23 | Electronic art |
| 7 | 7 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 8 | 3 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic art |
| 9 | 9 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 10 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
September 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling Nintendo Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Nintendo platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW ONES | Splatoon 3* | Nintendo |
| 2 | NEW ONES | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 3 | 1 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 3 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 4 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land* | Nintendo |
| 6 | 6 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 7 | Nintendo Switch Sports* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 5 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 9 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 10 | NEW ONES | JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
September 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling PlayStation Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
PlayStation platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW ONES | FIFA 23 | Electronics Art |
| 2 | 1 | Madden NFL 23 | Electronics Art |
| 3 | NEW ONES | NBA 2K23* | Take-Two Interactive (Corp) |
| 4 | NEW ONES | The Last of Us: Part 1 | Sony (company) |
| 5 | 2 | Saints Row (2022) | plaion |
| 6 | NEW ONES | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 7 | 6 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 8 | 3 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| 9 | NEW ONES | JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 10 | 5 | Gran Turismo 7 | Sony (company) |
September 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling Xbox Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Xbox platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Madden NFL 23 | Electronics Art |
| 2 | NEW ONES | FIFA 23 | Electronics Art |
| 3 | NEW ONES | NBA 2K23* | Take-Two Interactive (Corp) |
| 4 | 2 | Saints Row (2022) | plaion |
| 5 | 4 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 6 | NEW ONES | JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 7 | NEW ONES | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 8 | 7 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 9 | 12 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 10 | 6 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
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