Super Mario 3D World Beat Call of Duty, PS5 and Switch Set Records in February Says NPD

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for February 2021, and this year continues to shape up well for the industry. February numbers were up significantly year-on-year with players spending $4.6 billion on games, additional content, and hardware. That’s up 35 percent compared to February 2020.

Hardware sales were particularly impressive, up 121 percent year-on-year, with both the PS5 and Switch setting records. The PS5 is the fastest-selling console in terms of dollars generated in US history after four months on the market, although it was still beaten by the Switch, which had the best February of any console since the Wii in 2009. As of this month, the Switch has surpassed the DS, making it the second-best selling Nintendo platforms of all time behind the Wii.

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On the software front, the mighty Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was toppled by cat suits as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury topped the charts. Meanwhile, Persona 5 Strikers and Little Nightmares II both debuted surprisingly well at #3 and #6, respectively.

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

1. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
3. Persona 5 Strikers
4. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
5. Madden NFL 21
6. Little Nightmares II
7. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
11. FIFA 21 Electronic Arts
12. NBA 2K21
13. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
14. Mortal Kombat 11
15. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
16. Ring Fit Adventure
17. Just Dance 2021
18. Minecraft (PS4 Edition)
19. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20. Immortals Fenyx Rising

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

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
3. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
4. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
5. Madden NFL 21
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
9. Persona 5 Strikers
10. Ring Fit Adventure

A good month considering this is usually a quiet time of year. What did you pick up in February?