Skyward Sword HD #1, PS5 Takes Dollar Sales Crown Back from XSX in July Per NPD

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for July 2021, and it was a good month for the industry, with players spending $4.6 billion on games, additional content, and hardware, representing a year-on-year increase of 10 percent. On the hardware front, the PS5 came out on top in terms of dollar sales (rebounding after coming second to Xbox Series X/S in June) while Switch was again #1 in total unit sales. Overall, it was the most lucrative July for video game hardware sales since the heyday of the Wii in 2008.

For software, it was a good month for Nintendo, as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD topped the chart and Monster Hunter Stories 2 came in at the third position. The only other new addition to the charts was NEO: The World Ends with You, which debuted at #16. Meanwhile, top June debut Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart dropped to #11, while Mario Golf: Super Rush actually held stronger at #6, perhaps showing the PS5 still doesn’t have the install base to give exclusives long-term legs.

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

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
3. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
5. Minecraft
6. Mario Golf: Super Rush
7. MLB The Show 21
8. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
11. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
12. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
13. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2)
14. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
15. Mortal Kombat 11
16. Neo: The World Ends with You
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
18. Pokémon Sword & Shield
19. Resident Evil Village
20. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

And here are the top-10 best-selling games of 2021 thus far:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. MLB The Show 21
3. Resident Evil Village
4. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
6. Monster Hunter Rise
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
8. Minecraft
9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Can anything stop the Switch steamroller? When even a remaster of a game like Skyward Sword, which has its fans, but certainly isn’t universally praised, can top the charts, you know you’re hot.