The NPD Group has released its full North American sales data for January, which was a so-so month for the industry overall. Players spent $4.3 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in January, a 6 percent year-on-year decrease. Spending on hardware was essentially the same as last year, but software was down year-on-year, perhaps due to the disappointing sales of some new games (and the mega-successful release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus in 2022). On the hardware front, it was a good month for the PS5, as it was the #1 console in terms of both unit and dollar sales. Switch was runner-up and Xbox Series X/S occupied its usual third-place spot.
Turning to software, the Dead Space remake came in at #2, but it wasn’t enough to knock Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II from its perch at the top of the charts. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem Engage came in at #5, Forspoken came in at #7 (a disappointment for a major Square Enix RPG release), and One Piece Odyssey debuted at #9. In other news, The Last of Us Part I jumped from #36 to #11 due to the critical success and popularity of the HBO series.
Here are January’s top 20 games according to NPD:
1 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
2 – Dead Space
3 – Madden NFL 23
4 – FIFA 23
5 – Fire Emblem Engage
6 – Elden Ring
7 – Forspoken
8 – God of War Ragnarok
9 – One Piece Odyssey
10 – Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
11 – The Last of Us Part I
12 – Sonic Frontiers
13 – Monster Hunter Rise
14 – Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
15 – Minecraft
16 – Need for Speed Unbound
17 – Just Dance 2023
18 – NBA 2K23
19 – Spider-Man: Miles Morales
20 – NHL 23
What are your thoughts on the January NPD numbers? Any big surprises or things you’re happy to see?
