Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Is Already The US's Best-Selling Game Of 2020

In less than a month on the market, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has already outsold every other game during 2020 in the United States. That's according to the NPD Group, which has released its monthly report for November and confirmed the ongoing dominance of CoD.

This marks the 13th year in a row where a new Call of Duty game was the top-selling game in its launch month, according to NPD. It's news that has long since ceased being a surprise. The launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X|S didn't impact this trend, with Cold War coming out as the top-selling game on PlayStation and Xbox platforms for both November and the year overall. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Animal Crossing: New Horizons stand as the second and third top-selling games for the year through November.

Coming in at the #2 spot on NPD's list of best-selling games in November was Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which is now the year's #7 best-selling game. It was a particularly big launch for Valhalla--which, like Cold War, released on next-gen platforms alongside current-gen ones and PC--attracting higher sales in its launch month than any AC game dating back to 2012's Assassin's Creed III.

The #3 seller in November was Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the cross-gen, standalone Spider-Man game. It was actually the second best seller on PlayStation platforms during the month, outselling Valhalla.

It's worth noting that NPD's charts accounts do include digital sales, but only from publishers that opt to share that data. That means Nintendo games, for instance, don't factor in digital sales on these charts, though Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Switch's big release in November, did still make it to #6. (Take-Two also no longer shares digital sales, which may explain GTA V's recent absence from these charts.) Additionally, games are ranked on dollar sales, rather than the number of units they sold.

The NPD report also revealed that PS5 set a new record for a console's launch month in the US. Perhaps due to supply constraints--it's very tough to buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S even a month later--Switch still emerged as the month's top-selling console, a record it's held for 24 months in a row.

Read on for a look at the full list of top sellers in November and 2020 overall. These charts cover November 1-28, meaning they lack a few days from the end of the month--making CoD's surge to the top of the 2020 charts all the more impressive. The game is set to be integrated with CoD: Warzone next week.

All Platforms (November 2020)

November 2020 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, Steam, and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
2. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
3. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
4. Madden NFL 21
5. NBA 2K21*
6. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity*
7. Watch Dogs: Legion
8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
9. FIFA 21
10. Demon's Souls
11. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
12. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
13. Just Dance 2021
14. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
15. Luigi's Mansion 3*
16. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
17. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
18. Marvel's Avengers
19. Mortal Kombat 11
20. Ghost of Tsushima

* Digital sales not included

All Platforms (2020 Through November)

Year-to-Date Ending November 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, Steam, and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
4. Madden NFL 21
5. The Last of Us: Part II
6. Ghost of Tsushima
7. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
8. Final Fantasy VII: Remake
9. Marvel's Avengers
10. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*

* Digital sales not included

Nintendo Platforms

November 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales

1. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity*
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
4. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
5. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
6. Just Dance 2021
7. Luigi's Mansion 3*
8. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
10. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*

* Digital sales not included

PlayStation Platforms

November 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
2. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
3. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
4. Madden NFL 21
5. Demon's Souls
6. NBA 2K21*
7. FIFA 21
8. Watch Dogs: Legion
9. Ghost of Tsushima
10. Sackboy: A Big Adventure

* Digital sales not included

Xbox Platforms

November 2020 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
2. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
3. Madden NFL 21
4. Watch Dogs: Legion
5. NBA 2K21*
6. FIFA 21
7. Marvel's Avengers
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
9. Star Wars: Squadrons
10. NHL 21

* Digital sales not included