Super Mario Maker 2, Nintendo Switch, Crash Team Racing dominate June - NPD

News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor

Published on July 19, 2019

June was a bit of a down month for games, but the hits had it all for themselves.

June was a quiet month for game releases, which no doubt had a big effect on the business of video games in America. According to NPD, all segments - software, hardware, accessories and game cards - declined during the month.

With $959 million in revenue, spending saw a 13% drop over the same period last year, though considerably higher than last month.

Hardware

Of all segments, Hardware saw the biggest drop, with a staggering 33% decline in spending, only bringing in $235 million. As has been the standard this year, the Nintendo Switch is the only platform growing year-on-year, and was the best-selling console in June - both dollar and unit sales.

The Switch also continues to reign supreme as the year's best-selling platform.

Software

Software sales generated $386 million in June, a 1% drop compared to June last year. Thanks to the Switch's success, Super Mario Maker 2 was June's best-selling game. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled came in at number two, followed by Mortal Kombat 11.

All three flourished, with Super Mario Maker 2 setting a new record for launch month sales of a Mario Maker game, beating both the original on Wii U, and its 3DS port. Likewise, Crash Team Racing sold more copies at launch than any other Crash Bandicoot game in history, beating Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy.

Mortal Kombat 11's status as 2019's best-seller (dollar sales) so far hasn't changed. More impressively, Mortal Kombat 11 is now just behind Mortal Kombat 10 and Mortal Kombat 3 in lifetime sales, having just overtaken Mortal Kombat 2011.

The charts also saw a surprise return for Spider-Man, which landed at number seven. Spider-Man is the best-selling superhero game in U.S history.