The NPD Group has released its latest monthly sales report, revealing the best-selling games, systems, and accessories for October 2021, and providing an overall snapshot of the health of the US gaming business.
In total, spending across hardware, software, and accessories rose by 16% to $4.4 billion, which is a new record for October. For the first 10 months of the year, total spending hit $46.7 billion, which is up 12%.
For hardware specifically, the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console for October in terms of unit and dollar sales alike. The launch of the Switch OLED model in October helped drive Switch sales overall, NPD said. The PS5 remains the best-selling console of 2021 by total dollars, but the Switch is the leader for units. In October, total spending on hardware surged by 82% to $472 million, while year-to-date spending jumped 53% to $3.9 billion. Shifting to games, Far Cry 6 was the best-selling game overall in the US during October 2021, while Back 4 Blood finished the month at No. 2. Metroid: Dread, meanwhile, was the third best-selling game overall in the US. Launch-month sales for Dread were the highest ever for the Metroid series, while dollar sales for physical copies "nearly doubled" the previous record-holder, Metroid: Prime.
Far Cry 6 is an action-adventure first-person shooter game set in an open world environment which the player can navigate on foot or via using various land, water, and air vehicles.
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Metroid Dread is an action-adventure game in which players control bounty hunter Samus Aran as she explores the planet ZDR.
Back 4 Blood is a thrilling cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of the critically acclaimed Left 4 Dead franchise.
