The NPD Group has released its full North American sales data for January, which was a so-so month for the industry overall. Players spent $4.3 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in January, a 6 percent year-on-year decrease. Spending on hardware was essentially the same as last year, but software was down year-on-year, perhaps due to the disappointing sales of some new games (and the mega-successful release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus in 2022). On the hardware front, it was a good month for the PS5, as it was the #1 console in terms of both unit and dollar sales. Switch was runner-up and Xbox Series X/S occupied its usual third-place spot.

　　Turning to software, the Dead Space remake came in at #2, but it wasn’t enough to knock Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II from its perch at the top of the charts. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem Engage came in at #5, Forspoken came in at #7 (a disappointment for a major Square Enix RPG release), and One Piece Odyssey debuted at #9. In other news, The Last of Us Part I jumped from #36 to #11 due to the critical success and popularity of the HBO series.

　　Here are January’s top 20 games according to NPD:

　　1 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

　　2 - Dead Space

　　3 - Madden NFL 23

　　4 - FIFA 23

　　5 - Fire Emblem Engage

　　6 - Elden Ring

　　7 - Forspoken

　　8 - God of War Ragnarok

　　9 - One Piece Odyssey

　　10 - Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

　　11 - The Last of Us Part I

　　12 - Sonic Frontiers

　　13 - Monster Hunter Rise

　　14 - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

　　15 - Minecraft

　　16 - Need for Speed Unbound

　　17 - Just Dance 2023

　　18 - NBA 2K23

　　19 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales

　　20 - NHL 23

　　What are your thoughts on the January NPD numbers? Any big surprises or things you’re happy to see?