Nintendo’s signature console shortage caused the NES Classic to sellout rather quickly before its initial launch in November 2016. It wasn’t until a few months ago when they announced that it was coming back in June. Despite only have three days on the market, the June NPD shows that the NES Classic was the best-selling console of the month. Mario Tennis Aces was also the best-selling game followed by God of War and Grand Theft Auto 5.
The NES Classic may have headlined Nintendo’s big June, but the console maker had other victories too. It had five of the top 20 best-selling games, making them the top-selling publisher for the month. The aforementioned Mario Tennis Aces led the pack and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze appeared at six, eleventh, twelfth, and nineteenth, respectively. Switch hardware sales were also up 50 percent from last June and software sales were twice as big from last June.
Sony also had a decent June. The PS4, despite having no immediate big games, still remains the highest-selling console of the year. God of War, as it has in the two previous months, sold well and still remains the second best-selling game of the year behind Far Cry 5. Detroit Become Human also did well in the month after its release as it was the tenth on the overall NPD software list. Sony’s big baseball game, MLB 18: The Show, finished in 16th place.
Microsoft has seen better months but it still set some records. Xbox One hardware dollar sales were nearly double from last June. However, State of Decay 2‘s success did not carry as strongly into June as it dropped from the best-selling game in May to the twentieth best-selling game in June. Microsoft had no other exclusives (or console exclusives) on the NPD list as Sea of Thieves did not crack the list.
