Call of Duty WW2 tops every possible chart in November NPD, PS4 and Xbox One both had a great month

By Brenna Hillier

This year’s November NPD report is good news all round, unless you dislike money.

November 2017 NPD at a glance

Year-on-year growth in total spend and across all categories.

PS4 tops hardware unit sales.

Xbox One tops hardware dollar sales.

Call of Duty: WW2 takes #1 on every possible software chart.

Compare month-on-month: October 2017

Compare year-on-year: November 2016

The November 2017 NPD report is in and there’s nothing negative to report this month.

Both Sony and Microsoft had wins in November 2017. The PS4 was the best-selling platform in terms of units sold, and as previously reported, Sony shifted more PS4s in November 2017 than in any other month during the console’s lifetime. The PS4 is the year’s best-selling console to date.

Meanwhile, the higher price of the Xbox One X saw Microsoft bring in the most dollars in hardware spend this month. Putting the competition aside, it was also Xbox One’s best November for unit sales ever.

No comment on Switch this month, ending a run of dominance from Nintendo – but we didn’t hear anything negative either, so we can probably assume it’s still ticking away nicely as we move into the holidays.

November 2017 NPD Software and charts

As ever, Activision’s annual cash cow gave plenty of milk and moo; Call of Duty: WW2 was the bestselling game of November, and also immediately outsold every game of 2017 and the past 12 months. It does this every year – Call of Duty is the most lucrative franchise in the NPD’s history.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 came in second place, as you’d expect from that brand and in spite of the microtransaction scandal. The NPD didn’t have anything to say on the topic, preferring to turn its attention to Assassin’s Creed: Origins, now in its second month but coming in at third anyway. Analyst Mat Piscatella said Origins has “generated the highest consumer spend for an Assassin’s Creed franchise release since 2013’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag”, so it’s safe to say that stabbing is back.

We saw big gains in racing, shooter and sports games through November, which feels like Black Friday spending to me. Check out the full charts below. As ever, titles marked with an asterisk do not include digital sales, and those with a double asterisk do not include sales through Battle.net.

November 2017 top 20 games by dollar sales, all platforms

1. Call of Duty: WW2
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 2017
3. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
4. NBA 2K18
5. Madden NFL 18
6. Super Mario Odyssey*
7. FIFA 18
8. Need for Speed: Payback
9. Destiny 2**
10. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
11. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
12. Middle Earth: Shadow of War
13. Grand Theft Auto 5
14. The Sims 4
15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
16. Mario Kart 8*
17. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus*
18. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
19. WWE 2K18
20. Just Dance 2018

November 2017 top 10 games by dollar sales, Xbox One

1. Call of Duty: WW2
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 2017
3. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
4. a gl
5. Madden NFL 18
6. FIFA 18
7. Need for Speed: Payback
8. Destiny 2
9. Forza Motorsport 7
10. Middle Earth: Shadow of War

November 2017 top 10 games by dollar sales, PS4

1. Call of Duty: WW2
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 2017
3. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
4. NBA 2K18
5. Madden NFL 18
6. FIFA 18
7. Need for Speed: Payback
8. Destiny 2
9. Grand Theft Auto 5
10. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus*

November 2017 top 10 games by dollar sales, Switch

1. Super Mario Odyssey*
2. Mario Kart 8*
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
4. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim*
5. Splatoon 2*
6. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle*
7. Sonic Forces*
8. Doom 2016*
9. Pokken Tournament DX*
10. Just Dance 2018*

November 2017 top 10 games by dollar sales, 3DS

1. Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
2. Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
3. Pokemon: Ultra Sun & Moon Dual Pack*
4. Super Mario Maker*
5. Super Smash Bros.*
6. Mario Party: The Top 100*
7. Minecraft*
8. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions*
9. Mario Kart 7*
10. Pokemon: Sun*

2017 year-to-date top 10 games by dollar sales, all platforms

1. Call of Duty: WW2
2. Destiny 2**
3. NBA 2K18
4. Madden NFL 18
5. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
7. Grand Theft Auto 5
8. For Honor
9. Injustice 2
10. Horizon Zero Dawn

Past 12 months top 10 games by dollar sales, all platforms

1. Call of Duty: WW2
2. Destiny 2**
3. NBA 2K18
4. Madden NFL 18
5. Grand Theft Auto 5
6. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
7. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
8. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
9. NBA 2K17
10. Final Fantasy XV

General November 2017 NPD

Total industry spend increase 30% year on year to $2.7 billion, with gains across all categories.

Combined dollars sales of console and PC software grew 19% year-on-year to $1.2 billion. Year to date, software spend is up 6% on November 2016 to $5.4 billion despite a few soft months.

Hardware spend was up a whopping 52% year-on-year to $1.1 billion. Year to date, hardware spend is up 28% on November 2016 to $3.4 billion, driven by Switch, the SNES Classic and PS4.

Accessories grew by 11% year-on-year to $344 million. The NPD said controllers in particular were very strong, up 30% year-on-year. The biggest seller is the bog standard black Dual Shock 4 for PS4.

Although on a good month the disclaimer feels a little unnecessary, remember that the NPD’s monthly reports track new physical sales as well as incomplete digital sales data in the US only. It doesn’t include a huge swathe of revenue streams like subscriptions, microtransactions, add-ons, used game sales – and as such does not represent the overall health of the games industry.