The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for June, and the horse race was an interesting one. Players spent $4.2 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in June, a 1 percent year-on-year increase. The PS5 continued its strong streak, being #1 in terms of both unit and dollar sales, but the slowing momentum of the aging Switch meant July hardware sales were down 19 percent year-on-year.

　　On the software front, Diablo IV was unable to top the charts in back-to-back months, with the #1 spot surprisingly going to the dark horse Remnant II instead. Even with its #1, Remnant II is only #18 on the overall 2023 charts, so its debut sales weren’t that strong. In other words, Diablo IV coming in at #2 means its sales have slowed significantly. Speaking of which, Final Fantasy XVI has slipped even further, down to the #5 position. Other new games on the chart include Pikmin 4 at #6 (a decent result for the niche series) and Exoprimal at #16 (pretty disappointing considering the run Capcom has been on).

　　Here are July’s top 20 games according to Circana:

　　1 - Remnant II

　　2 - Diablo IV

　　3 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

　　4 - Hogwarts Legacy

　　5 - Final Fantasy XVI

　　6 - Pikmin 4

　　7 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

　　8 - Street Fighter 6

　　9 - Elden Ring

　　10 - MLB The Show 23

　　11 - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

　　12 - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

　　13 - Call of Duty: Black Ops II

　　14 - Minecraft

　　15 - FIFA 23

　　16 - Exoprimal

　　17 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales

　　18 - Spider-Man

　　19 - Dead Island 2

　　20 - Call of Duty: Black Ops III

　　And here are the top games of 2023 to date:

　　1 - Hogwarts Legacy

　　2 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

　　3 - Diablo IV

　　4 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

　　5 - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

　　6 - Resident Evil 4

　　7 - MLB The Show 23

　　8 - Dead Island 2

　　9 - Final Fantasy XVI

　　10 - Street Fighter 6

　　What are your thoughts on the July NPD/Circana charts? Any big surprises or things you’re happy to see?