The NPD Group has revealed which games were top sellers in the U.S. for December 2018, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu, Let’s Go Eevee, Pokémon Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon, Detective Pikachu and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. The full results in each relevant category are as follows:
The best-selling games of December 2018 in the U.S.
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. But not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Battlefield V**
- NBA 2K19
- Mario Kart 8*
- Madden NFL 19**
- Super Mario Party*
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
- Super Mario Odyssey*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Just Cause 4
- FIFA 19
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Minecraft
- Spyro Reignited Trilogy**
- Fallout 76*
Nintendo
December was a big month for Nintendo. Seven of the top 20 games are exclusive to Nintendo systems, which is significantly more than any other publisher. Every Nintendo game is benefiting from the Switch’s success. Mario Kart 8, for example, finished 2018 as the second best-selling racer ever behind only Mario Kart Wii.
Nintendo generated more revenue than any other game publisher for the first time since 2009. That doesn’t include in-game spending, though.
But let’s get real. December is really all about one game for Nintendo, and you know what it is.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is already a blockbuster hit. It is the top-selling game of December and the No. 5 best-selling game for all of 2018. What’s stunning about this is that Nintendo’s games do not include digital sales on this chart. Call of Duty, Red Dead, and Spider-Man all do — at least on consoles.
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the best-selling game of December 2018 and the fifth best-selling game of 2018, despite digital sales not currently being tracked by The NPD Group,” Piscatella said. “Packaged software launch month dollar sales of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate exceeded those of the previous best in franchise history, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by over 70 percent.”
But Smash isn’t just a success by franchise standards. It is the fastest-selling console exclusive game ever tracked by the NPD.
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate set a new launch-month dollar sales record for a platform exclusive in Video Game history,” said Piscatella. “[It exceeded] the launch month dollar sales of 2010’s Halo: Reach.”
The best-selling games of 2018 in the U.S.
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
3. NBA 2K19
4. Madden NFL 19
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Marvel’s Spider-Man
7. Far Cry 5
8. God of War 2018
9. Monster Hunter: World
10. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
11. Grand Theft Auto V
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. FIFA 19**
14. Battlefield V**
15. Super Mario Odyssey*
16. Call of Duty: WWII**
17. Dragon Ball: FighterZ
18. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
19. Super Mario Party*
20. Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
The best-selling games of December 2018 in the U.S.
1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. Battlefield V**
5. NBA 2K19
6. Mario Kart 8*
7. Madden NFL 19**
8. Super Mario Party*
9. Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
10. Marvel’s Spider-Man
11. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
12. Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
13. Super Mario Odyssey*
14. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
15. Just Cause 4
16. FIFA 19
17. Grand Theft Auto V
18. Minecraft
19. Spyro Reignited Trilogy**
20. Fallout 76*
*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales
Top 10 Nintendo Switch (no digital) (December 2018)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Mario Kart 8
- Super Mario Party
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Splatoon 2
- Minecraft
- Just Dance 2019
Top 10 Nintendo 3DS (no digital) (December 2018)
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Mario Kart 7
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun
- Super Smash Bros.
- Super Mario 3D Land
- Minecraft
- Detective Pikachu
- Mario Party: The Top 100
- New Super Mario Bros. 2
Top 10 Nintendo 3DS (no digital) (2018)
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun
- Mario Mart 7
- Super Smash Bros.
- Detective Pikachu
- Super Mario 3D Land
- Minecraft
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Mario Party: The Top 100
- Super Mario Maker
Top 10 Nintendo Switch (no digital) (2018)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Mario Kart 8
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Party
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee
- Splatoon 2
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Kirby Star Allies
Source: VentureBeat.com and Mat Piscatella @MatPiscatella
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