PS5 Unseats Switch and Madden NFL 23 Beats Saints Row in August According to NPD

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for August 2022, and while the industry was down year-on-year, hardware sales continue to surge as the supply of next-gen consoles improves. Overall, players spent $4.1 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in August. That represents a year-on-year decrease of 5 percent, but hardware sales were up 14 percent. PS5 was #1 in dollar and unit sales in August, unseating the Switch, which has led in unit sales for most of this year and the last.

Turning to software, Madden NFL 23 was #1 with a bullet and the new Saints Row was #2 (although it seems like the gap between the two is rather large, as Madden shot right up the Top Games of 2022 chart and Saints Row didn’t). The only other new game on the charts was Soul Hackers 2, coming in at #15. Meanwhile, due to the game’s anticipated PC release, Marvel’s Spider-Man shot up to #3 on the charts (from #84 the month previous).

Here are August’s top 20 games according to NPD:

1. Madden NFL 23
2. Saints Row
3. Marvel’s Spider-Man
4. Elden Ring
5. MultiVersus
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
7. Minecraft
8. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
9. MLB The Show 22
10. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
11. Digimon Survive
12. Horizon Forbidden West
13. Call of Duty: Vanguard
14. Far Cry 6
15. Soul Hackers 2
16. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
17. Gran Turismo 7
18. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
19. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
20. Pokemon Legends: Arceus

And here are the top-10 best-selling games of 2022 thus far:

1. Elden Ring
2. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
3. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
4. Horizon Forbidden West
5. Madden NFL 23
6. MLB The Show 22
7. Call of Duty: Vanguard
8. Gran Turismo 7
9. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

What are your thoughts on the August NPD numbers? Anything surprise you? Will the supply situation for PS5 and other next-gen consoles continue to improve?