Marvel’s Avengers claim top spot of September’s NPD rankings

NPD Group has released the rankings of best-selling games in September 2020, and Marvel’s Avengers has claimed the top spot.

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamic’s superhero loot-driven action-RPG was the best-selling game of the month. It claimed the top spot for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Nintendo also had a strong month, with Super Mario 3D All-Stars coming in 2nd and Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remaining in the top 10.

As for other games that debuted this month, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 was the fourth best-selling game of the month, followed by Madden NFL 21 in 5th, Star Wars: Squadrons in 9th, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time just missing the top 10 at 11th.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the month is Paradox Interactive’s Crusader Kings III breaking into the top 10 as the seventh best-selling game of the month, a feat that PC exclusives rarely achieve, especially considering Crusader Kings III is a deep and deeply strange strategy RPG, but it speaks to the quality of a game that has a 91 Metascore.

All told, spending on video games was up year to date. Hardware spend was up 22 percent compared to September 2019. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering we’re only a couple of months away from seeing the launch of next-gen consoles, though the Switch surely had a hand in that surge of spending. Total software spend—including games, DLC, microtransactions, and subscriptions—was up 20 percent, and total spend on accessories was up 26 percent. In other words, while the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine might be bad for our collective mental health, it’s definitely been kind to the video game industry.