NPD: Switch, PS4, Xbox One all sell over 1.3 million units in November

Black Friday weekend and its surrounding month in the United States proved an excellent time for hardware sales as usual in the United States, according to this month's NPD report, though software sales were lagging due to a release date shuffle in the year's biggest title.

Overall gaming sales for November were flat year-over-year at $2.7 billion, with software sales declines offsetting increases elsewhere. Year-to-date, spending was up 16 percent to $13.2 billion.

In hardware, November 2018 was a historical month. For the first time ever in November, three console platforms sold over 1.3 million units: the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One all sold over 1.3 million. The only other time three platforms even broke 1 million for November was in 2010, when the DS, Wii, and Xbox 360 managed that mark.

Overall, hardware spending was up 3% year-over-year to $3.9 billion, with the Nintendo Switch's sales growth helping offset declines on other platforms. The Switch led hardware dollar sales this past month, but the PS4 remains at the top in year-to-date sales.

Accessory and game card spending was up 35 percent year-over-year to $503 million, an all-time high.

Finally, software dollar sales were down last month by 15 percent year-over-year due to Call of Duty's moved release date from November to October. Year-to-date sales were in excess of $5.8 billion, making this the highest comparable year-to-date total in software since this time in 2011.

Now with over a month at retail, Red Dead Redemption 2 has secured the position of 2nd best-selling game year-to-date, behind Call of Duty, and the best-selling game of November. Its sales outstrip those of its predecessor by almost 40 percent. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, meanwhile, is the second-fastest selling game on PS4 and Xbox One in history, only behind Call of Duty: WWII.

Fallout 76 may have seen a rocky month in the press, but it is nonetheless the 4th best-selling game of November without taking into account digital sales (which Bethesda does not report). Behind it was Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee at #5 and #6 respectively, with Pikachu's launch month sales as the second-highest in franchise history behind Pokemon Stadium on the Nintendo 64. Digital sales are not included for Nintendo titles.

Finally, Spyro Reignited Trilogy earned a place in the top-10 at #9. Dollar sales for its launch month were 30 percent higher than the combined launch month sales of every other Spyro game in history, not including Skylanders.

Top 10 selling games (physical and digital) for November 2018

1. Red Dead Redemption II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII^
3. Battlefield V^
4. Fallout 76*
5. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu*
6. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee*
7. NBA2K19
8. Madden NFL 19^
9. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
10. FIFA 19^

^PC sales not included

*Digital sales not included

[CORRECTION]: This article originally stated November was the first month ever to have three platforms sell 1.3 million. It was actually just the first November to have three platforms reach that mark. We regret the error.