September 2020 NPD: Avengers and Mario lead strong transition into autumn

Americans showed up to celebrate Super Mario’s 35th anniversary by giving a lot of money to Nintendo for Super Mario 3D All-Stars and the Nintendo Switch. Other major releases, like Marvel’s Avengers, also helped fuel year-over-year growth.

Here are the full results for September 2020’s game sales from industry-tracking firm The NPD Group:

“Consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories reached $4.3 billion in September 2020, a 10% increase when compared to a year ago,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Mobile, hardware, and accessories were among the largest growth segments.”

While that’s a big jump for the transitional month between summer and the busy fall season, it’s actually behind the pace of growth for 2020 so far.

“Year-to-date spending totaled $33.7 billion, 21% higher than the same time period in 2019,” said Piscatella.

This shows that people are rushing out for big new game releases like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and it should bode well for the launch of Xbox Series X on November 10 and PlayStation 5 on November 12.

September 2020 NPD: Nintendo Switch leads hardware

The launch of Super Mario 3D All-Stars helped push more people to pick up Nintendo’s Switch hardware. It sold well enough to even mitigate the slowing sales of the outgoing Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.

“September 2020 video game hardware spending reached $277 million, a 15% increase when compared to a year ago.,” said Piscatella. “Growth in sales of Nintendo Switch offset declines of other console platforms. Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console during September in both dollars and units.”

Hardware sales are still up huge for the year even before the release of PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.

“Year-to-date spending on hardware has increased 22% when compared to a year ago, to $2.3 billion,” said Piscatella.

Let’s take a closer look at software sales.

September 2020 NPD: Best-selling software

NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. But not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party digital sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales, and Take-Two doesn’t always share its digital sales. This chart also does not include microtransactions, subscriptions, or anything beyond full-game sales. With those caveats in mind, it is best to think of this as a very useful snapshot of a much more dynamic industry.

Marvel’s Avengers

Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers had one of the best launches ever for a superhero game. This should give the game a strong chance of succeeding as it transitions into an ongoing live service.

“Marvel’s Avengers was the best-selling title of September,” said Piscatella. “Launch-month dollar sales of Marvel’s Avengers were the second highest for any superhero game in U.S. history, trailing only Marvel’s Spider-Man. Marvel’s Avengers debuted as the No. 7 best-selling game of 2020 year to date.”

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Mario was huge for Nintendo, and these results do not include any digital sales.

“Super Mario 3D All-Stars was the second best-selling game of September, and ranked as the No. 10 best-selling game of 2020 year to date,” said Piscatella. “Super Mario 3D All-Stars generated the second-highest launch-month for physical dollar sales of any 2020 release, trailing only Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

Nintendo likely helped goose these early sales by promising (threatening) to pull the game from store shelves and its online store after March.

“Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ launch month physical dollar sales rank as the sixth biggest for a Nintendo-published title in U.S. history,” said Piscatella. “Super Mario 3D All-Stars trails only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Pokémon Stadium in physical launch month dollar sales.”

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, meanwhile, was another remake hit for Activision.

“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 was the fourth best-selling game in September,” said Piscatella. “The release achieved the highest launch month dollar sales of any title in Tony Hawk franchise history, surpassing Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, which originally launched in October 2004.”

Crusader Kings III

Crusader Kings III had a mammoth launch for publisher Paradox Interactive. It shows that series has moved out of niche status and into the gaming mainstream.

“Crusader Kings III was the seventh best-selling game of September,” said Piscatella. “With just one month of sales, Crusader Kings III ranks as the best-selling release in franchise history. The title also experienced the highest launch month dollar sales of any title published by Paradox Interactive.”

Best-selling games so far in 2020

Best-selling games of the last 12 months

Xbox One

PlayStation 4

Nintendo Switch