Anthem Sales Open Strong In The US, Second-Biggest BioWare Release Ever For First Month

The NPD Group has released its US sales report for February, revealing the best-selling hardware and software for the month and providing an overall health update on the industry.

Starting with game sales, BioWare's Anthem was the best-selling title of the month, beating out other new releases like Jump Force, Far Cry New Dawn, and Metro Exodus.

Anthem enjoyed the second highest launch-month sales in BioWare's history, only behind 2012's Mass Effect 3. It is now 2019's second best-selling game, trailing only Kingdom Hearts III. One caveat to mention with Anthem is that PC digital sales are not included. Publisher Electronic Arts has not shared any hard sales data for Anthem.

Also notable on the software side is that Metro Exodus debuted at No. 8; it was outsold by a number of 2018 games such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Red Dead Redemption II. Still, Exodus' first-month sales were the highest in franchise history, eclipsing the first-month sales of Metro: Last Light by almost 50 percent, according to the NPD. As with Anthem, PC digital sales for Metro Exodus are not included.

In total, February software spending in the US across console, portable, and PC games reached $457 million, which is up 15 percent. Year-to-date, spending stands at $896 million, and that's up 10 percent compared to last year.

You can see the best-seller charts for February 2019 at the bottom of this post.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was February's best-selling platform. It is also the highest-selling system of 2019. Also notable is that Nintendo posted its highest February month for hardware sales since February 2011. Across all platforms, hardware spending dropped 12 percent year-over-year to $277 million.

February 2019 US Sales

Top 20 Games All Platforms

1. Anthem^
2. Jump Force
3. Kingdom Hearts III
4. Far Cry New Dawn
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Resident Evil 2
7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
8. Metro: Exodus^
9. NBA 2K19
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
11. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. Grand Theft Auto V
14. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
16. Minecraft#
17. Super Mario Party*
18. Rainbow Six Siege
19. Madden NFL 19^
20. Spider-Man

2019 Year-To-Date Top 10 Games

1. Kingdom Hearts III
2. Anthem^
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Jump Force
5. Red Dead Redemption II
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
8. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
9. NBA 2K19
10. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

All Platforms 12 Months Ending February 2019

1. Red Dead Redemption II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
3. NBA 2K19
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
5. Madden NFL 19^
6. Spider-Man
7. Far Cry 5
8. God of War
9. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
10. Mario Kart 8*

February 2019 Xbox One

1. Anthem
2. Jump Force
3. Far Cry New Dawn
4. Red Dead Redemption II
5. Kingdom Hearts III
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
7. NBA 2K19
8. Resident Evil 2
9. Metro: Exodus
10. Grand Theft Auto V

February 2019 PS4

1. Anthem
2. Jump Force
3. Kingdom Hearts III
4. Red Dead Redemption II
5. Resident Evil 2
6. Metro: Exodus
7. Far Cry New Dawn
8. NBA 2K19
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
10. Spider-Man

February 2019 Nintendo Switch

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
2. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
3. Mario Kart 8
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Super Mario Party
6. Super Mario Odyssey
7. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu
8. Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee
9. Splatoon 2
10. Minecraft

February 2019 3DS

1. Yo-Kai Watch 3
2. Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
4. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
5. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
6. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
7. Super Smash Bros.
8. Super Mario Maker
9. Mario Kart 7
10. Super Mario 3D Land

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included