April NPD 2018: God of War is the big daddy

Both video game spending and dad jokes were up in April. Consumer spending grew 18 percent year-over-year from $699 million to $823 million across the board, according to the industry-tracking firm The NPD Group.

Santa Monica Studio’s God of War had the best launch month ever for a PlayStation 4 exclusive, in terms of dollar sales. It instantly ascended to the No. 1 spot on the top sellers list for April and it is now No. 3 on the best-selling games of 2018 behind Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World at No. 2 and Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5 at No.1.

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Here are the numbers for April:

• Total: $823 million (up 18 percent from $699 million in April 2017)
• Hardware: $225 million (up 15 percent from $195 million)
• PC and console software: $359 million (up 13 percent from $317 million)
• Accessories: $240 million (up 28 percent from $187 million)

And here is how 2018 is comparing so far to 2017 in terms of year-to-date dollar sales:

• Total: $4.24 billion (up 15 percent from $3.68 billion in 2017 year to date)
• Hardware: $1.15 billion (up 14 percent from $1.01 billion)
• PC and console software: $1.89 billion (up 9 percent from $1.74 billion)
• Accessories: $1.20 billion (up 29 percent from $927 million)

April was a great month for Sony in particular, thanks to God of War. It was the best-selling publisher of the month, and the PlayStation 4 set a new record in software sales.

“PlayStation 4 software dollar sales in April 2018 set an all-time April high for any platform since tracking began in 1995,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “The record had previously been held by Xbox 360 and was set in April 2008.”

Software

1. God of War 2018
2. Far Cry 5
3. MLB 18: The Show
4. Labo Variety Kit
5. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze*
6. Mario Kart 8*
7. Grand Theft Auto V
8. Call of Duty: WWII
9. Super Mario Odyssey*
10. NBA 2K18
11. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds**
12. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
13. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
14. Monster Hunter: World
15. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
16. A Way Out**
17. Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life*
18. Sea Of Thieves
19. Kirby Star Allies*
20. FIFA 18**

*No digital sales included
**No PC digital sales included

Though God of War wrested the top spot from Far Cry 5, the cult-overthrowing open-world adventure didn’t tumble too far. It fell to No. 2 but it remains the best seller of 2018, and Ubisoft is still the top-selling publisher year-to-date.

MLB 18: The Show stayed steady at the No. 3 spot last month, but Rare’s multiplayer pirate title Sea of Thieves plummeted to No. 18 after a strong start. Nintendo’s bet on cardboard landed its Labo Toy-Con 01 Variety Kit in the top 10, showing that players are willing to put their dollar where their memes are. Its Toy-Con 02 Robot Kit fared a little worse, ranking at No. 21.

Piscatella says that Labo’s launch met his predictions, resulting in “solid debut month sales —certainly not fantastic and definitely not terrible.”

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“The story for Labo will really be told in the months leading to Q4 and, of course, in holiday,” said Piscatella. “I think the April sales set a solid foundation, and I don’t think anything in the April data suggests anything more than that. The market jury is certainly still out. It continues to be something very difficult to analyze and predict, certainly.”

Xbox One

1. Far Cry 5
2. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
3. Sea Of Thieves
4. Call of Duty: WWII
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
7. NBA 2K18
8. A Way Out
9. Monster Hunter: World
10. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

PlayStation 4

1. God of War 2018
2. Far Cry 5
3. MLB 18: The Show
4. Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life*
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Call of Duty: WWII
7. Monster Hunter: World
8. NBA 2K18
9. A Way Out
10. FIFA 18

Nintendo Switch (physical only)

1. Labo Toy-Con 01 Variety Kit
2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
3. Mario Kart 8
4. Super Mario Odyssey
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
6. Kirby Star Allies
7. Labo Toy-Con 02 Robot Kit
8. Splatoon 2
9. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
10. Pokken Tournament DX

Nintendo 3DS

1. Pokémon: Ultra Sun
2. Pokémon: Ultra Moon
3. Detective Pikachu
4. Super Smash Bros.
5. Mario Kart 7
6. Super Mario 3D Land
7. Minecraft
8. Super Mario Maker
9. Mario Party: The Top 100
10. Kirby: Battle Royale

The best-selling games of 2018 so far

1. Far Cry 5
2. Monster Hunter: World
3. God of War 2018
4. Call of Duty: WWII
5. Dragon Ball: Fighterz
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. NBA 2K18
8. MLB 18: The Show
9. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds**
10. Mario Kart 8*

The best-selling games over the last 12 months

1. Call of Duty: WWII
2. NBA 2K18
3. Destiny 2**
4. Madden NFL 18
5. Super Mario Odyssey*
6. Star Wars: Battlefront II 2017**
7. Grand Theft Auto V
8. Far Cry 5
9. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
10. Mario Kart 8*

Hardware and accessories

Spending on hardware grew 15 percent year-over-year in April from $195 million to $225 million, thanks mainly due to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo’s SNES Classic. Sony came out on top — PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console last month as well as year-to-date, and its PlayStation 4 Pro bundle with God of War generated the most dollar sales.

“PlayStation 4 generated the highest April unit sales for a console since Nintendo Wii in April 2009, and the highest April dollar sales for a console since Nintendo Wii in April 2008,” said Piscatella.

Because of the high sales of PlayStation 4, it’s no surprise that the complementary DualShock 4 Wireless Controller has now set a record as the “all-time best-selling gamepad in dollar sales,” according to NPD.

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Accessories and game card spending overall was up 28 percent year-over-year in April, reaching $240 million as compared to 2017’s $187 million.