God of War helps PlayStation smash records in April NPD stats

The NPD Group has released its April 2018 figures for the video games industry, and it's Sony that is clearly leading the way.

PlayStation 4 was once again the best-selling hardware for the month, and has continued to outsell all other devices since the year began.

In fact, PlayStation 4 set a new record for April console sales since NPD tracking first began in 1995, both in terms of units and dollars. Nintendo Wii held both previous records for April 2009 and April 2008 respectively.

Software sales also saw a boost, with Sony setting yet another new record for April in terms of dollars. Games for PS4 brought in the highest amount since the Xbox 360 in April 2008 - the month that Grand Theft Auto IV was released.

PlayStation's success this month can mostly be attibuted to the return of Kratos in the revived God of War. Not only was this the best-selling game of the month, it's also the best ever launch for a PlayStation exclusive (again, in terms of dollar sales).

Kratos also conquered hardware, with the PS4 Pro 1TB Limited Edition God of War bundle placing as the best-selling hardware for the month in tems of dollars. It was beaten in unit sales by the Nintendo Switch 32GB with Neon Red/Blue Joy Con.

PlayStation even dominated in the accessories category, with the PS4 Black DualShock controller the best-selling peripheral of the month and the year-to-date. It is now the best-selling gamepad of all time in terms of dollar sales.

Unsurprisingly, Sony was April's top-selling publisher thanks to God of War and MLB 18: The Show, which launched last month. The baseball titles was the third best-selling game for a second consecutive month, and the second best-selling exclusive since the year began (after God of War, of course). The best-selling game of the year to date is Ubisoft's Far Cry 5.

Nintendo was one of the only other companies to have a notable release this month, in the form of cardboard curiosity Labo. The Variety Pack was the fourth best-selling game of the month, with the Robot Pack just missing out on a place in the Top 20, debuting at No.21.

Overall, spending on video games is up across all categories - hardware, software, accessories and game cards - to $823 million, an increase of 18 per cent over April 2017.

Year-to-date spending has also risen by 15 per cent, with $4.2 billion taken since the year began. Again, there has been growth across all categories.

Below is the Top 20 best-selling games for April 2018, in terms of dollar sales. This encompasses both physical and digital sales - except for Nintendo and Sega titles, which are physical only.

1. God of War (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
2. Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft)
3. MLB 18: The Show (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
4. Labo Variety Kit (Nintendo)
5. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo)
6. Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo)
7. Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two)
8. Call of Duty: WWII (Activision)
9. Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
10. NBA 2K18 (Take-Two)
11. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Microsoft)
12. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands (Ubisoft)
13. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
14. Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
15. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft)
16. A Way Out (Electronic Arts)
17. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Sega)
18. Sea of Thieves (Microsoft)
19. Kirby Star Allies (Nintendo)
20. FIFA 18 (Electronic Arts)