The NPD Group today released its report for April 2017, revealing the top 10 best-selling games of the month for the United States and other key industry facts.
Nintendo's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was No. 1 in the all-platforms chart, with Persona 5, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, MLB 17 The Show, and Ghost Recon: Wildlands rounding out the top five.
You can see all of the top-seller lists NPD shared below. As is now the case every month, these lists are ranked by US dollar sales and combine physical sales with digital sales from select publishers. As such, the figures in this post do not cover the entire industry spend.
Overall, total spend--including hardware, games, and accessories--rose 10 percent to $636 million. This is the first time that spending has increased in consecutive months since November 2015.
In terms of hardware, the Nintendo Switch was again the top-seller, moving more than 280,000 units in the US during the month. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the month's top-seller, sold more than 460,000 physical copies and a further 90,000 digital units. One important note is that the game launched on April 28, and the NPD's reporting period ended April 29, so only two days of sales were tracked.
Another interesting thing to note is that the NES Classic was the No. 2 best-seller in the US during April, outperforming Xbox One and PS4, though a specific unit sales figure was not provided.
Overall, hardware spending rose 37 percent to $195 million. April 2017 represented the highest hardware revenue in the US for an April since 2011.
Game sales rose 6 percent to $304 million, led by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Persona 5, as well as a "strong second month" for Breath of the Wild.
Here are some other key takeaways for April, via NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
"April saw the release of Xbox 360 Call Of Duty: Black Ops II as a backward compatible game for the Xbox One, helping the title chart in the top 10," he said. "Persona 5 experienced the strongest debut month for any title in Persona franchise history, with packaged dollar sales five times that of the previous best-selling debut, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4."
For the year so far, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is the best-selling game overall, followed by another Ubisoft title, For Honor.
Finally, accessories and gamecard sales jumped 4 percent to $126 million. The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller was the top-selling gamepad for April.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*Persona 5*Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*MLB The Show 17Ghost Recon: WildlandsGrand Theft Auto VMass Effect: AndromedaNBA 2K17Overwatch*Call of Duty: Black Ops IIApril 2017 Top 10 PS4 Games
Persona 5*MLB 17: The ShowGhost Recon: WildlandsHorizon: Zero DawnGrand Theft Auto VKingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 RemixMass Effect: AndromedaNBA 2K17Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareOverwatchApril 2017 Top 10 Xbox One
Ghost Recon: WildlandsMass Effect: AndromedaGrand Theft Auto VOverwatchForza Horizon 3NBA 2K17Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareLego WorldsRainbow Six SiegeFor HonorApril 2017 Top Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*Lego City Undercover*1-2-Switch*Puyo Puyo Tetris*Super Bomberman R*Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + *Just Dance 2017*Skylanders Imaginators*April 2017 Top 10 Portable Titles
Mario Sports Superstars*Pokemon Sun*Pokemon Moon*Super Mario Maker*Poochy & Yoshi's Wooly World*Super Smash Bros.*Mario Kart 7*Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D*Super Mario 3D Land*New Super Mario Bros. 2*
Ghost Recon: WildlandsFor HonorLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*Horizon: Zero DawnMass Effect: AndromedaResident Evil 7Grand Theft Auto VNBA 2K17Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareMLB 17: The Show
Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareBattlefield 1NBA 2K17Madden NFL 17Overwatch*Grand Theft Auto VFIFA 17Ghost Recon: WildlandsFinal Fantasy XVFor HonorThis story has been updated and corrected.