The NPD Group have released their full North American sales data for January, and, despite some big releases, it was a somewhat slow month for the industry. Consumers spent $893 million on games and hardware, down 19 percent from $1.1 billion the previous January. The biggest reason for the drop in spending was console sales, which were only $199 million, down a hefty 28 percent from last year.

　　On the hardware front, the Nintendo Switch picked up another win after crushing the competition in December. The Switch saw a year-on-year increase in sales, and the Switch Pro Controller was the month’s best-selling accessory (likely due to Smash Bros.) Meanwhile, both PS4 and Xbox One saw fairly sharp year-on-year declines in sales.

　　Moving onto software, both Kingdom Hearts III and Resident Evil 2 did very well for themselves. KHIII sold 2.5x more copies in its launch month than any previous game in the series. Meanwhile, Resident Evil 2 made 2.8x more money in its launch month than the original PS1 version of the game. Other new additions to the chart this month include New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe at #3, Ace Combat 7 at #7 and Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition at #12.

　　Here’s NPD’s full January software top 20:

　　Kingdom Hearts IIIResident Evil 2New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeCall of Duty: Black Ops 4Super Smash Bros. UltimateRed Dead Redemption IIAce Combat 7: Skies UnknownNBA 2K19Mario Kart 8Grand Theft Auto VMadden NFL 19Tales Of VesperiaThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildBattlefield VSuper Mario PartyMinecraftAssassin's Creed: OdysseyMarvel's Spider-ManFIFA 19Super Mario OdysseyHere are the best-selling games of the past 12 months:

　　Red Dead Redemption IICall of Duty: Black Ops 4NBA 2K19Super Smash Bros. UltimateMadden NFL 19Marvel’s Spider-ManFar Cry 5God of War 2018Assassin’s Creed: OdysseyMario Kart 8There you are – great month for quality games, but a bit slow in terms of business. What games did you pick up in January?