The August data for U.S. video games are in from the National Purchase Diary, which tracks retail and some online sales depending on the publisher. August is traditionally known as the month where Madden releases and acts as a harbinger to a deluge of other games that didn’t see fit to release in the early Summer months and this year is no exception.
Madden NFL 19 topped the list this year in software sold, making it the best launch month for a Madden game since Madden NFL 13 in 2012. While both debuts were huge, as a general rule, Madden tends to be the top game every August consistently except for the two years where NPD calendar’s included it in September.
Madden, it turns out, is actually the only new listing of the top five this year. Monster Hunter World clawed its way back to the second spot thanks to the PC release, further solidifying Capcom’s monstrous success with the game. Rainbow Six Siege jumped up six spots from the previous month, thanks partly due to aggressive free-play campaigns by Ubisoft and multiple eSports tournaments centered around the game.
Rounding out the top five are Grand Theft Auto V, the indomitable Rockstar game that has taken on the title of the most profitable piece of media of all time, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This month will be the last month Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is tracked with online play being free, so it will be interesting to see if that affects the game’s sales at all or if the addition of voice chat actually bolsters its sales.
Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Strikers is the next new game on the list. The Naruto-themed fighter did moderately well and proves how consistent anime games, at least of certain licenses, tend to be for Bandai Namco Entertainment. You can check out the top 20 below:
| Madden NFL 19 | 1 | |
| Monster Hunter: World | 2 | |
| Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege | 3 | |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 4 | |
| Mario Kart 8* | 5 | |
| Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker | 6 | |
| God of War | 7 | |
| Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | 8 | |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | 9 | |
| Super Mario Odyssey* | 10 | |
| Minecraft* | 11 | |
| Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy | 12 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 13 | |
| Monster Hunter: Generations Ultimate | 14 | |
| Call of Duty: WWII | 15 | |
| Mario Tennis Aces* | 16 | |
| Overwatch | 17 | |
| LEGO The Incredibles | 18 | |
| We Happy Few* | 19 | |
| The Crew 2 | 20 |
(*Not tracked digitally, only retail.)
It appears that Octopath Traveler, after performing above expectations in July, did not appear at all on this month’s list. It ranked at sixth place of top selling Switch games, indicating a fairly steep drop for the exclusive RPG.
Perhaps most incredible is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The game hit Xbox One backwards compatibility on August 28, which drove sales of the title to just behind God of War.
In terms of hardware, the Switch once again sold the most units of the month and still claims the strongest selling individual SKU, but the PlayStation 4 retains ownership of the year-to-date sales title. With Pokemon and Smash Bros. later this year, the Switch has a good chance of overcoming it, but the late-year surge of Red Dead Redemption II, Call of Duty, and Spider-Man makes it likely that PlayStation 4 sales won’t slouch.
Speaking of Spider-Man, next month’s NPD sales will include the webbed superhero’s newest game, as well as Dragon Quest XI, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and the Switch version of Dragon Ball FighterZ, so it should be an interesting one to watch.
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