NPD data is coming out for January, giving us a good idea of the winners and losers in the US market at the start of the year.
For Nintendo, it’s a mixed set of results; to remove the negative that caused the Switch to fall from the top spot in terms of hardware sales. In terms of units sold and revenue, PlayStation 5 comes out on top, Xbox Series X | S is second. One factor could be that both companies were able to increase the supply a bit, and it looks like Nintendo’s impressive sales over the Holidays may have limited supply. NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella emphasized on social media that the hardware winner each month usually matches availability.
In terms of software, there is good news for Nintendo, however, with Pokémon Legend: Arceus take first place; that’s even though Nintendo doesn’t share digital game sales with the NPD, so its results are solely from physical sales. You may also note the return of Monster Hunter: Rise uplargely driven by PC releases and Steam sales.
It will be interesting to see the availability of Switch hardware over the next few months, with Nintendo’s revised goal of selling 23 million systems in the fiscal year (end of March). Meanwhile, next month’s NPD software results will focus on how momentum has been maintained for the current heavyweights on the Switch.
Let us know what you think of the results, as always, in the comments section below.
