NPD Report March 2021

NPD Report Video Games Analysis March 2021

It was in March of 2020 that the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and since then we have typically seen video game sales explode. For most of 2020, it was very tough to find a Nintendo Switch and even Ring Fit Adventure as many turned their normal exercise routines from outdoor to at home. In the second half of the year, despite their best effort with chip shortages, Sony and Microsoft both released their next generation of consoles to wild success and even wilder limited availability.

Although we are still in a pandemic, there was curiosity of just how long these sales could maintain their extreme levels. This week Mat Piscatella from the NPD group shared his data regarding the video game sales for the month of March 2021, which would be the first month that we have since the pandemic started to compare other months in the pandemic. Sadly, it has been that long but it feels like we are much closer to the end than we are to the beginning. All of this isn’t news to anyone but what is new and interesting are these NPD stats for the month of March and subsequently, the data for the first quarter of 2021.

NPD Accessory Sales March 2021

Similar to many things in my life, I like to get the less fun stuff out of the way first, so starting off with the vegetables and chores of the NPD report, let’s take a look at accessories. Video Game accessory spending had a record setting March with 300 million in sales, which was 26% higher than March of 2020. The first quarter of 2021 saw increased accessory sales by 42% with 717 million dollars in sales during the first three months of the year.

The increase in sales between this year and last was likely due to the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S. The release of these new consoles from Microsoft and Sony forced people to get new accessories to use with their next gen systems. Some people could have been waiting to get that new gaming headset, maybe there have been enough new games like It Takes Two that have increased the demand for an additional controller. Controllers aren’t cheap either, so being a few months removed from the November release dates of those systems would have likely seen people recover from spending a large chunk of cash.

For myself personally, I have been trying to get ahold of the Sony DualSense charging station but everywhere I check, it has been sold out, which falls in line with the theory that accessory spend has been at record levels. The biggest driver of the accessory spending has been the DualSense, which led March and the first quarter in dollar sales. Im sure the next generation of Xbox consoles have been selling extremely well too but they decided to go with the consumer friendly move and offer backwards compatibility of the Xbox One controllers.

NPD Hardware Sales March 2021

Without hardware, there would be nothing to do with these peripherals and accessories, which leads into the hardware sales. March 2021 is now holds the records for hardware sales for the month of March which breaks the previous record that has stood for 13 years. March 2008 was the previous best March since NPD started tracking video game data with 552 million. The new record set last month is 680 million, which is also up 47% from 2020 with around 462 million.

For the first quarter of 2021, hardware sales were 1.4 billion, which is up a staggering 81% vs the first quarter of 2020. Obviously the pandemic has helped keep the Switch at the top of the charts plus all the evergreen titles that are available on that system but also the key factor here is the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony. One of the Interesting stats that came from the NPD report was that the PS5 is now the fastest selling console in the history of the US when looking at units and dollar sales, this is obviously only based on the first five months of a system being available and it might be hard to keep up the pace with a possible Switch Pro on the near horizon and Xbox making all kinds of aggressive moves with GamePass and acquisitions.

The PS5 was also the best selling console for the first quarter of the year when looking at dollar sales, which makes sense because the system is around 500 depending on which model you can find. The Switch however continues its dominance as the best selling console of March in terms of both units and revenue and for the first quarter of the year it was also the best selling console in terms of units.

We might be in the process of witnessing history being made as the Nintendo Switch might actually go on to become the best selling console of all time if it is able to keep up the pace. Nintendo is still bringing in new customers all the time and with the release a pro model, there will be a lot of customers that will be double dipping, I know I will be. It has also been a while since we have seen a brand new entry from Mario, Zelda and Mario Kart, so with the release of those titles, expect sales to skyrocket every time.

NPD Software Sales March 2021

For me, the best part about the NPD report is seeing what games are charting. March software sales were 4.6 billion and the first quarter sales were 12.8 billion, which is up when compared to 2020. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the best selling game for the month of March and is the best selling game for the first quarter of the year as well.

Monster Hunter Rise, which is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, was the second best selling game of March and the fourth best selling game of the year, despite only having five days of sales. Rise was obviously the best selling game on the Nintendo Switch for March and was also the only non Nintendo published title in the top ten for the hybrid system as Nintendos evergreen titles continue to dominate. After just five days, Monster Hunter Rise is now the second best selling game in the franchise in terms of revenue and only second to the very successful Monster Hunter World. Even more impressive when you consider than this game is only available on the Nintendo Switch and the NPD typically only reports on US sales.

In other Nintendo news, Mario Kart 8 is still selling very well by being the sixth best selling game of March. Mario Kart 8 is now the best selling racing game in history, which got me thinking, as long as Mario Kart 8 has been in the charts for sales, what game has sold more that it took this long for it to surpass it. The big surprise is that it was Mario Kart for the Wii with 37.38 million units sold. Either way, there are big shoes to fill for Nintendo, when and if they choose to release a sequel.

Despite most people being somewhat disappointed with the demo, Outriders managed to take as much of the feedback they could and release a game that people have been generally pleased with. Critically, Outriders is hovering around 75%, but fans are having a great time with the game at the moment, until something better comes along.

Outriders was the third best selling game on both the PlayStation and Xbox, which are notable because the game was available on release date on Game Pass. It was also the third best selling game of March and just squeaked into the top ten for the first quarter. Outriders was the only new release in the top ten PlayStation games and on Xbox, It Takes Two was the only other new release at eighth on the list.

The only other notable takeaways from the software sales was that Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury was the second best selling game for the first quarter of 2021, only behind Cold War. Considering this is was only available on Nintendo and is technically a repackaged WiiU title that only managed to sell 5.86 million copies during its original run.

Despite disapproval from many fans that Nintendo is fully embracing the Disney vault strategy, there is no doubt that it was the impending removal of 3D All Stars that propelled that game to ninth best selling game of March. With success to the level that they have seen with 3D All Stars since it was released last year, Nintendo continues to learn that not only do they not need to put much effort into their remasters and they will likely double down of the Disney strategy.

The Right Answer is The Simplest

Overall March 2021 gaming sales were up 18% to 5.6 billion for hardware software and accessories when compared to March of 2020. First quarter sales were 14.9 billion for the US video game sector which is up 30% from 2020.

This data is quite self explanatory as there are new consoles available and people for the most part are still staying home more than going out. With all the games that have been delayed and the slower release cadence that we have seen in 2021 so far, its good to see that gaming is still thriving. People are clearly finding happiness in older games and likely becoming more invested into the ones that they are already playing.