Top 10 Best Selling Games of December 2013 (USA)

What were the Top 10 best selling games in December 2013 and all of 2013 in the United States?

The newest NPD numbers are in, and so are the top lists of the highest selling game systems and games for December in America.

Here is the full Top 10 of December 2013:

    1. Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC, NWU)**
    2. Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC)
    3. Just Dance 2014 (WII, 360, NWU, XBO, PS3, PS4)**
    4. Madden NFL 25 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO)
    5. NBA 2K14 (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, PC)**
    6. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, PC, NWU)**
    7. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)**
    8. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, PS3, 3DS, XBO, PS4, NWU, PSV, PC)
    9. FIFA 14 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PSV)
    10. Skylanders SWAP Force (WII, 360, PS3, NWU, 3DS, XBO, PS4)**

The multiplatform juggernaut that was Call of Duty: Ghost’s release was a major success selling $1 billion worth of games on day 1! Here’s the TV commercial filmed with live-action stars, including Riley Dog and Megan Fox.

Here is the full Top 10 of the year 2013:

    1. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PS3)**
    2. Call of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC, Wii U)**
    3. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
    4. Battlefield 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
    5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)**
    6. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC)**
    7. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)**
    8. Just Dance 2014 (Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, PS4)**
    9. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
    10. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
    11-14. Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, The Last of Us, and Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition.

** Includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware. Physical retail copies only.

System Sales in December 2013:

    1. Nintendo 3DS: +/- 1 Million — Best selling current-gen handheld
    2. Xbox One: 908,000 — 3 Million Units sold in 13 countries!
    3. Xbox 360: 643,000 (-54.1%) — Best selling current-gen console
    4. Nintendo Wii U: 460,000+
    5. PlayStation 4 — 4.2 Million Units sold in 53 countries!

Note: No PS4, PS3 nor PS Vita data was released for the month by Sony.

Microsoft’s new Xbox One console had the strongest debut (despite its week-late debut after PS4) in the USA, on account of distribution being prioritized to the country. Here’s the “Invitation” launch TV ad.

Analysis of the game and hardware sales numbers:

Although NPD doesn’t by far track all digital sales, retail still gives a good impression of last month’s best selling video games.

To quote NPD industry analyst Liam Callahan…

About video games he said: “Grand Theft Auto V is within striking distance of surpassing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the highest selling game within the Grand Theft Auto franchise, after only four months on the market.

With the success of Grand Theft Auto V, the launch of Bioshock Infinite, as well as the continued popularity of the NBA 2K franchise, Take 2 Interactive was the top video game software publisher for 2013.”

On Xbox One, U.S. consumers bought an average of 2.9 games per console (retail & digital) since the launch a month before. — The best selling games for the console are: Battlefield 4, Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Madden NFL 25, and Call of Duty: Ghosts.

On PlayStation 4, consumers bought an average of 2.3 games per console (retail & digital) since the launch a month before. — The best selling games for the console are: Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, and Killzone: Shadow Fall.

On Nintendo Wii U, consumers bought an average of 5.2 games per console (retail & digital) since the launch a year before. — The best selling games for the console are: Super Mario 3D World, New Super Luigi U, Wii Party U, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, and Lego City Undercover..

About hardware he said: “December 2013 marks the fifth month in a row for positive combined physical video game sales across hardware, software, and accessories. The launch of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One drove console hardware sales up over 50% compared to December 2012.

Hardware sales of the Wii U were also positive with December 2013 marking its highest month for unit sales month so far.”

Sony added that they have “sold every PS4 available at retail in the US and were out of stock in December due to overwhelming consumer demand. With more than 4.2 million PS4 systems sold worldwide.”

About the yearly finances NPD reported:

“The full-year [hardware] sales in 2013 are down 2 percent to $12.97 billion. Breaking that number down, new platforms like the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo 2DS helped push hardware sales up 5 percent to $4.26 billion, while software sales slipped 9 percent to $6.12 billion. Accessories (which include Skylanders and Disney Infinity toys, as well as cards loaded with currency for online storefronts), were up 3 percent to $2.6 billion.

Overall industry [software] sales in December were up 2 percent to $3.28 billion. Most of that growth was attributable to hardware, which went up 28 percent to $1.37 billion. Accessories were also up 4 percent to $631 million, but most of those gains were offset by software sales that dropped 17 percent to $1.28 billion.”

Via NeoGAF

Are the Top 10 games what you expected?