Originally published on Trevor Trove on March 10, 2016
Another month of NPD Sales, another month of the PlayStation 4 topping the hardware sales charts. Here’s what I predicted last month:
With Street Fighter V being the only major new physical release in February this coming week, I imagine that will wind up as the only new title on next months list. And despite somewhat negative critical response, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers will most likely rise in the charts next month when it has a whole month’s worth of sales behind it. And with football season done, I imagine February will be the month Madden finally slips from the charts.
The Best-Selling Software of February 2016:
- Far Cry: Primal (PS4, XBO) – released Feb. 23
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3, PC) – was #1 in Nov, #1 in Dec, #1 in Jan
- Grant Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC) – appeared at #4 in July, then #6 in Dec, #2 in Jan
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS4, XBO) – released Feb. 4
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3) – was #1 in Sept, #2 in Oct, #5 in Nov, #7 in Dec, #3 in Jan
- LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (PS4, XBO, 360, Wii U, PS3, 3DS, PSV) – was #9 in Jan
- Street Fighter V (PS4) – released Feb. 16
- Minecraft (360, XBO, PS4, PS3) – last appeared at #10 in Sept, #8 in Dec, #6 in Jan
- Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright (3DS) – released Feb. 19
- Fallout 4 (PS4, XBO, PC) – was #2 in Nov, #3 in Dec, #5 in Jan
So, how’d I do? I say, “meh.”
- I completely forgot that Far Cry Primal was launching in February. If I had remembered, I probably would have pegged it for taking the top spot. The core franchise always sells incredibly well so it comes as no surprise that this did, too.
- Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, and Minecraft all continue to be unstoppable juggernauts.
- Much like on the PSN, Naruto Shippuden performed well, landing at #4. I seriously know nothing about that franchise but apparently a lot of people do.
- As I predicted LEGO Marvel’s Avengers did indeed climb the charts with a full month behind it.
- I also got the Street Fighter prediction at least a bit right, as it charts at #7. Single platform games appearing on the Top 10 list are a bit of a rarity these days so that it charted where it did with only about half of the month is probably making PlayStation and Capcom pretty happy (even if Naruto topped it).
- And lastly, the Birthright version of Fire Emblem Fates made the list squeaking in just above Fallout 4 at #9. I’m curious if the Fire Emblem Fates games were counted together or separate. I feel like the Pokemon games always get packaged together but I could be wrong.
- With four new arrivals, Star Wars Battlefront, Rainbow Six Siege, Madden, and FIFA all got bumped from the list. Of those titles, I probably only give Battlefront a chance at returning once some of the DLC starts dropping but even that seems unlikely.
So let’s see what to expect for March’s list. The Division and it’s record-breaking launch for Ubisoft will almost certainly debut at #1. Mortal Kombat XL will probably also put in a strong showing unless too many people already bought the original game last year. I don’t see the starved Wii U audience caring about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD enough to make the cut but I think Pokken Tournament will. And next week’s Hitman is episodic and digital only for the time being so it won’t chart here. And the last games I might consider would be Hyrule Warriors: Legends on 3DS and MLB The Show 16 on PlayStation but I think they are both too late in the month to compete.