All Articles: Far Cry 5

Red Dead Redemption 2 cowboys up as the best-selling game of 2018

A wise man once said, “When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” And that’s exactly what Rockstar Games did with Red Dead Redemption 2.

The publisher’s western epic has been nine years in the making, and it blew away all expectations (and chased every other big release away from its October 26 launch date) as the best-selling game in November. Now, The NPD Group has revealed that it’s also the best-selling game for all of 2018.

Activision’s mighty Call of Duty franchise claimed the #2 spot with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and many of the other usual suspects can be found throughout the top ten including NBA 2K19 (#3), Madden NFL 19 (#4), Far Cry 5 (#7), and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (#10).

It was also a good year all around for single-player games as Spider-Man (#6) and God of War both cracked the top ten. Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was also able to break into the top five (at #5) after only being on sale for a few weeks. Finally, the surprising success of Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World helped the latest entry in the franchise come in at #9.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the NPD Group said that the entire game industry generated $16.7 billion in sales in 2018, a 13% increase over 2017. That includes a 33% increase for accessories, as a 7% increase for software, and 8% for hardware. On that note, the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of 2018.

The NPD’s Top 10 best-selling games for 2018 (in handy list format) can be found after the break. (more…)

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Steam’s Top Sellers for 2018 include PUBG, GTA5, Rocket League, more

After more than a decade of dominance as the most-popular digital storefront for the PC, Steam was challenged on all sides in 2018 from both established players (GOG, Origin, and the Humble Store), as well as shiny upstarts (Discord and the Epic Games Store). But Valve’s online shop still sold a lot of games this year, and they recently shared their Top Sellers of 2018 with the public. But instead of ranking the games, Steam chose to split the list up into four tiers “as measured by gross revenue this year.”

As you might have guessed, you’ll find plenty of heavy hitters among the 12 games featured in the Platinum tier. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was slightly overshadowed this year by other “Battle Royale” shooters, but it made the cut, as did new releases like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Monster Hunter: World, and perennial favorites such as Grand Theft Auto V, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Rocket League

Steam’s Top Sellers of 2018 – Platinum Tier

  • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  • Civilization VI
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Dota 2
  • The Elder Scrolls Online
  • Far Cry 5
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Rocket League
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
  • Warframe

Steam partitioned off the next 12 games as the Gold tier, and followed that up with 16 more games in the Silver tier. The remaining 60 games were included in the Bronze tier.

There’s plenty of recognizable titles at every level, including Ark: Survival Evolved in Gold; Subnautica, Final Fantasy XV, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider all in Silver; and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dark Souls Remastered, and Nier: Automata in Bronze.

All the titles from Steam’s Top Sellers of 2018 can be seen on… you guessed it… Steam.

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Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler was the best-selling game in July 2018

It would have been amusing if Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler took the #8 spot in The NPD Group’s monthly report of best-selling games (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz). But instead, the retro-styled RPG smashed expectations and landed in the top spot for the preceding four-week period. That means the publisher is likely less amused and more amazed.

Nintendo Switch exclusives dominated the list of best-selling games last month, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (#3), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (#5), Super Mario Odyssey (#7), and Mario Tennis Aces (#10) all cracking the top ten. The recent Switch launch of Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy (#9) also likely accounted for its rise in the rankings (the game is also available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One).

The Switch was also the best-selling console in July, the first time that’s happened since December 2017.

You can find out how the rest of the top ten shook out, with a quick rundown of the remainder of July 2018’s best-selling games, after the break. (more…)

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Nintendo scored both the best-selling game (Mario Tennis Aces) and console (NES Classic) of June 2018

Nintendo can lay claim to the top-selling console in June 2018… but it wasn’t the Nintendo Switch. Instead, it looks like the relaunched NES Classic was the month’s best-selling console.

However, that’s not to say that the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch (as well as the Super NES Classic and 3DS) were slouching. According to the NPD Group (via GamesIndustry.biz), the three major consoles, both of Nintendo’s retro microconsoles, and the 3DS created a 52% increase in overall hardware sales versus June 2017.

All told, the game industry tallied $1.1 billion in sales in June, which was good for a 25% year-over-year increase.

June is typically a slow month for new releases, and that was reflected in the NPD’s companion report on best-selling games. Mario Tennis Aces was the top-selling game during the month, with The Crew 2 (#4), and Lego The Incredibles (#7) also breaking into the top ten. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy‘s debut on the PC, Switch, and Xbox One also helped it re-enter the list at #9.

A quick rundown of the remainder of June 2018’s best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)

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State of Decay 2 rises as the best-selling game of May 2018

I think we can all agree that the Xbox’s two biggest franchises are Halo and Gears of War. But it looks like Microsoft can add the State of Decay series to the list, as The NPD Group (via Game Informer) has confirmed that State of Decay 2 was the best-selling game of May 2018.

The zombie survival sim beat out other several other May releases including Detroit: Become Human (#3), Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (#5), Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (#7), and Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection (#17).

While it might have seemed like a slow month for new releases, The NPD Group confirmed that increased hardware sales gave the game industry a 13% bump over May 2017’s retail figures.

The complete Top 20 for May 2018 can be found after the break. (more…)

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God of War slays all comers and emerges as the best-selling game of April 2018

You might say that Kratos returned with a vengeance last month, and that’s because Sony’s God of War reboot climbed to the top of The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games for April 2018. According to the NPD (via GamesIndustry.biz), God of War was also the “best ever launch for a PlayStation exclusive.”

Sony and Kratos weren’t done setting records, and the former “Ghost of Sparta” helped sell a lot of PS4 consoles too. Thanks to a push from the newly-available PS4 Pro 1TB + God of War Limited Edition Bundle, Sony’s console was propelled to the top of the NPD’s Hardware Chart for both “units sold” and “dollar sales.” The PS4 also set a new record for console sales during the month of April, besting the previous mark set in April 2008 by Nintendo’s Wii.

While Nintendo lost out on one record, they almost stole Sony’s thunder by placing six games in the NPD’s Top 20 last month, including the Nintendo Labo: Variety Kit (#4), Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (#5), Mario Kart 8 (#6), Super Mario Odyssey (#9), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (#13), and Kirby Star Allies (#19).

You can find the full list of The NPD Group’s best-selling titles for April 2018 after the break. (more…)

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Far Cry 5 and Sea of Thieves sail to the top of March 2018’s list of best-selling games

The number of high-profile new releases has slowed to a trickle in April, and that’s probably because game publishers threw open the tap in March. Not surprisingly, gamer scooped up these new titles by the armful, with Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5, Microsoft’s Sea of Thieves, Sony’s MLB The Show 18, and Nintendo’s Kirby Star Allies taking the top four spots in The NPD Group’s monthly tally of best-selling games.

The venerable Grand Theft Auto V remains in the top five, but other new releases, including Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (#8) and A Way Out (#15), managed to break into the NPD’s top twenty.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, overall sales for the industry were down by 11% in March, however, “first quarter 2018 spending across the four categories [software, hardware, game cards, and accessories] was up by 15% year-on-year to $3.4 billion with growth in all areas.”

You can find the full list of The NPD Group’s best-selling titles for March 2018 after the break. (more…)

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Far Cry 5, MX Vs ATV: All Out, Tera, more added to Xbox Store

A handful of new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store…

Far Cry is a franchise with a cult devotion, so it seems natural that Ubisoft dropped an actual doomsday cult into Far Cry 5. In the game, players will venture towards the fictional Hope County in Montana to fight it out with the Eden’s Gate cult and their bizarre leader, Joseph Seed.

Also available to download today is MX Vs ATV: All Out, another off-road racing sim from THQ Nordic; Tera, a free-to-play MMO from Bluehole; and the Game Preview release of PixArk, a voxelized sandbox adventure based on Ark: Survival Evolved.

Finally, Telltale will finish up Batman: The Enemy Within with the release of Episode 5: Same Stitch.

You can learn more about all of these games after the break. (more…)

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