The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for June 2020, and while COVID-19 has been disastrous for much of the world, it continues to be a boon for the video game industry. Players spent $1.18 billion on games and hardware last month, up 26 percent from June 2019. This was driven by a large 49 percent year-on-year increase in software sales, which made up for the fact that hardware sales were down 17 percent. As usual, the Nintendo Switch was the top-selling console.

　　On the software front, the big winner was The Last of Us Part II, which sold more in its launch month than any other game this year. Overall, TLOU2 was the second-biggest Sony launch of all time, trailing only Marvel’s Spider-Man. Aside from TLOU2, not a lot of new games made the June charts -- SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated at #19 was the only fresh face, although Persona 4 Golden managed to sneak in at #18 due to a Steam release.

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

　　The Last of Us Part IICall of Duty: Modern WarfareAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsGrand Theft Auto VMortal Kombat 11Red Dead Redemption 2Ring Fit AdventureNBA 2K20Mario Kart 8 DeluxeMinecraft DungeonsSuper Smash Bros. UltimateRainbow Six SiegeMinecraftThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildStar Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderBorderlands 3Need for Speed HeatP4G: Persona 4 GoldenSpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom RehydratedAssassin’s Creed OdysseyAnd here are the top-10 best-selling games of 2020 so far:

　　Call of Duty: Modern WarfareAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsThe Last of Us Part IIFinal Fantasy VII RemakeGrand Theft Auto VNBA 2K20Dragon Ball Z: KakarotMLB The Show 20Resident Evil 3Madden NFL 20Last month was definitely all about TLOU2 – it will be interesting to see what kind of legs the game has. What games did you pick up in June?