The NPD December charts have arrived and it was the Nintendo Switch system which came out on top followed by Sony’s PlayStation 5 console. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been an incredible sales success for the Kyoto-based company in the United States and is the best-selling Nintendo game since Wii Fit Plus in 2010. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War came out as the best-selling game of 2020, though of course it’s a multiplatform game. Here’s the best-selling games for December 2020:
“In 2020, [Animal Crossing: New Horizons] achieved the highest physical dollar sales for a Nintendo-published game in a calendar year since Wii Fit Plus in 2010,” said NPD’s VG industry analyst, Mat Piscatella.
“Annual dollar sales of Nintendo Switch hardware were the second highest for an individual platform in a single calendar year in US history,” said Piscatella. “Only the 2008 dollar sales of Nintendo Wii were higher.”
Here’s the 2020 top 20 games (physical and digital) ranked on dollar sales, data courtesy of NPD:
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Activision Blizzard) |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Activision Blizzard) |
| 3 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* (Nintendo) |
| 4 | Madden NFL 21 (EA) |
| 5 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft) |
| 6 | The Last of Us: Part II (Sony) |
| 7 | Ghost of Tsushima (Sony) |
| 8 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* (Nintendo) |
| 9 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars* (Nintendo) |
| 10 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix) |
| 11 | Marvel’s Avengers (Square Enix) |
| 12 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony) |
| 13 | NBA 2K21* (Take-Two Interactive) |
| 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* (Nintendo) |
| 15 | FIFA 21 (EA) |
| 16 | Mortal Kombat 11 (Warner Bros) |
| 17 | Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (Bandai Namco)* |
| 18 | MLB: The Show 20 (Sony) |
| 19 | Cyberpunk 2077* (Warner Bros) |
| 20 | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Activision Blizzard) |
With digital included Animal crossing is easily number one; plus Nintendo would have 11 games in the top 20. Great year for true video gamers. Merry 2021 everyone and blessings this January Christmas 🎄 season. Play more Mario galaxy everyone.
F=ma.
It both digital and physical.
Four of the top five were multi-console games. Gotta give it to Animal Crossing…#3 for a single console game.
No NPD only gets physical sales figures for Nintendo games since they hold the digital numbers and report on those themselves.