The final sales statistics have come in for the month of November. Generally considered the peak of the video game holiday season, November is usually where we see some serious peaks in terms of people buying new hardware, and new titles. As we already know, the PlayStation 5 launched last month, and while it was doing well overall, we now have definitive confirmation that it’s a smash hit. NPD’s Matt Piscatella tweeted that the PlayStation 5 had the “highest launch month unit and dollar sales for a video game hardware platform in US history.”
Considering the astronomical demand, and the insanely low supply, it’s not terribly surprising to see Sony’s new system take the crown of best hardware launch in U.S. history. To make this even sweeter for the company, the previous system to hold this title was none other than Sony themselves with the PlayStation 4 in 2013. While exact numbers for this specific statistic weren’t given, Piscatella did state that consumers spent a record $1.4 billion in November of this year. That’s a 58% increase from 2019, which is absolutely insane. This massive jump in numbers is no doubt helped by the launch of not just the PlayStation 5, but also the Xbox Series X|S.
Despite now having the greatest console launch of all time, the PlayStation 5 did not lead the month of November in overall units sold. That number belongs to the Nintendo Switch, which has held onto that title for an unbelievable 24 consecutive months. Yes, Nintendo’s system has been the best selling console in the U.S. for more than two years straight. This is most likely due to Nintendo’s brilliant marketing, as well as having a stellar library of IPs to choose from, including new and old.
As for software, Activision’s Call of Duty was the winner for the 13th straight year with the newest entry Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. In addition, Piscatella also mentioned that this milestone also makes the title the best-selling game of 2020, which is not really surprising given the insane popularity for the franchise. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, another series with a huge fan base, was the second-best-selling game of the month, while Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the third-best-selling game.