Black Ops 4 Outsells Red Dead Redemption 2 In October; PS4 Tops The Hardware Chart In The US

What video games and consoles sold the best in October? The NPD Group has released its report for the month, revealing that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 topped the software sales charts while Sony's PlayStation 4 was the best-performing console in the month in the United States.

Rounding out the top five best-selling games, in order, were Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, NBA 2K19, and Super Mario Party. Notably, while Red Dead Redemption 2 had an astoundingly excellent first few days (it's shipped 17 million copies already), its launch came at the end of the month (October 26) compared to an early-October release (October 12) for Black Ops 4.

According to the NPD, Black Ops 4's first-month dollar sales amounted to the eighth biggest since NPD started tracking sales in 1995. After just one month, Black Ops 4 is now the best-selling game of 2018 in the US, and the second best-selling game of the trailing 12-month period, only behind Call of Duty: WWII. It appears Black Ops 4 not having a traditional campaign didn't hurt sales as some might have predicted. The reporting period for October was October 7 through November 3.

As for Red Dead Redemption 2, it's now the second best-selling game of 2018. Its launch-month sales were three times higher than the first-month sales of Red Dead Redemption 1 in 2010.

With console, portable, and PC sales combined, total software revenue more than doubled from last October to $965 million. That's good for the best October in NPD history, besting the previous high of $743 million from October 2008. Notably, the Call of Duty franchise normally releases in November, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is a once-a-console-generation-type game, so better-than-normal results were expected.

Moving to hardware, Sony's PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console of October 2018 in terms of units sold and total revenue. In face, October was the PS4's best October ever for unit sales, while total dollar sales were the highest of any October since October 2014. Covering all platforms, total spending on hardware rose 26 percent year-over-year to $300 million. The PS4 and Xbox One posted "significant gains," but other platforms declined.

With software, hardware, and accessories combined, total spending on video games in the US in October 2018 came out to $1.55 billion, which was up 73 percent. October 2018 represented the best month ever since NPD started tracking video game sales in 1995. The previous record was $1.36 billion from October 2008.

October 2018 Best-Selling Games

All-Platforms

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Assassin's Creed Odyssey
4. NBA 2K19
5. Super Mario Party*
6. Soul Calibur VI
7. FIFA 19^
8. Spider-Man
9. Madden NFL 19^
10. WWE 2K19
11. Forza Horizon 4
12. Lego DC Super Villains
13. My Hero One's Justice
14. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
15. Mario Kart 8*
16. Grand Theft Auto V
17. Super Mario Odyssey*
18. Diablo III***
19. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
20. NHL 19

All Platforms Year To Date

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Far Cry 5
4. Spider-Man
5. NBA 2K19
6. God of War
7. Monster Hunter: World
8. Madden NFL 19^
9. Grand Theft Auto V
10. Call of Duty: WWII

All Platforms Ending October 2018

1. Call of Duty: WWII^
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
3. Red Dead Redemption 2
4. Far Cry 5
5. Star Wars: Battlefront II
6. Super Mario Odyssey
7. Spider-Man
8. NBA 2K19
9. God of War
10. NBA 2K18

Xbox One October 2018

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
2. Red Dead Redemption II
3. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
4. Forza Horizon 4
5. NBA 2K19
6. Madden NFL 19
7. FIFA 19
8. WWE 2K19
9. Soul Calibur VI
10. Shadow of the Tomb Raider

PS4 October 2018

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
2. Red Dead Redemption II
3. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
4. Spider-Man
5. Soul Calibur VI
6. NBA 2K19
7. FIFA 19
8. WWE 2K19
9. Madden NFL 19
10. My Hero One's Justice

Nintendo Switch October 2018

1. Super Mario Party
2. Mario Kart 8
3. Super Mario Odyssey
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Diablo III
6. Starlink: Battle For Atlas
7. Dark Souls Remastered
8. The World Ends With You: Final Remix
9. Lego DC Super Villains
10. My Hero One's Justice

Nintendo 3DS October 2018

1. Luigi's Mansion
2. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
3. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
4. Mario Kart 7
5. Minecraft
6. Super Smash Bros.
7. Super Mario 3D Land
8. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
9. Mario Party: The Top 100
10. New Super Mario Bros. 2

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

*** Diablo III sales include 100% of Physical and Digital on Sony and Microsoft consoles