Fallout 76's First-Month Sales: Here's How The Game Did

While Bethesda hasn't made any announcements about how well the controversial multiplayer-focused Fallout 76 did commercially, a report from the NPD Group contains some clues.

The NPD Group's report for US game sales in November show that Fallout 76 was the fourth best-selling game of November, only behind Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Red Dead Redemption 2. While the NPD Group's reports now contain digital sales numbers, this only applies to some publishers. Bethesda doesn't share digital game sales, so Fallout 76 ranking fourth with only physical sales accounted for is a more impressive achievement.

Fallout 76's physical sales in the US in November amounted to the third highest launch-month sales in the history of the Fallout series, only behind Fallout 4 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Critics generally did not enjoy Fallout 76, and GameSpot's review scored it a 4/10. While Bethesda hasn't announced any specific sales numbers for Fallout 76, the company said last month that "millions" of people have played the game.

Fallout 76 will be supported with new updates for a long time to come, according to Bethesda. Marketing boss Pete Hines says he believes the game's servers will stay online until the sun burns out and humankind is left in ashes.

While Fallout 76 might have had a good start sales-wise in November, it did not crack the top 10 list for best-selling games of 2018 so far. Grand Theft Auto V, a game originally released in 2013, has sold better than Fallout 76 this year.

Some of the other game sales highlights for November in the US include:

• Red Dead Redemption 2 sales after just two months exceed the lifetime sales of Red Dead Redemption 1 by almost 40 percent.
• Black Ops 4 continues to be the best-selling game of 2018. It is also the second fastest-selling game on PS4 and Xbox One ever, only behind Call of Duty: WWII.
• Launch-month sales for Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee were the second-highest in Pokemon history, only behind 2000 Pokemon Stadium.
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy's launch-month dollar sales were more than 30 percent higher than the launch-month sales of all other Spyro games ever combined, except Skylanders.
• Hitman 2 didn't make it into the Top 20 list of best-sellers.
• Total software sales for the US in November amounted to $1 billion, which is down 15 percent compared to last year. NPD said Black Ops 4's shift from November to October this year is to blame for the downturn.

On the hardware side, the Nintendo Switch was the top platform during November based on dollar sales, while the PS4 continues to be the leader year-to-date in terms of hardware dollar sales. Another notable takeaway is that, for the first time ever, three console systems sold more than 1 million units each in a November month; the Switch, PS4, and Xbox One each sold more than 1.3 million units during the month. In November 2010, the DS, Wii, and Xbox 360 each sold more than 1 million units, but the DS is apparently not counted as a console platform.

Total hardware sales in the US for November 2018 came to $1.18 billion, which is up 3 percent. Looking at games, hardware, and accessories combined, total US spending on games in November reached $2.7 billion.

November Best-Selling Games All Platforms

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
3. Battlefield V^
4. Fallout 76*
5. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu*
6. Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee*
7. NBA 2K19
8. Madden NFL 19^
9. Spyro: Reignited Trilogy
10. FIFA 19^
11. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
12. Super Mario Party*
13. Spider-Man
14. Mario Kart 8*
15. WWE 2K19
16. God of War
17. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
18. Just Dance 2019
19. Grand Theft Auto V
20. Forza Horizon 4

All Platforms Year To Date

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

12 Months Ended November 2018

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

November Xbox One

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
3. Battlefield V
4. Fallout 76*
5. Madden NFL 19
6. NBA 2K19
7. Assassin's Creed Odyssey
8. FIFA 19
9. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
10. Forza Horizon 4

November PS4

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
3. Fallout 76*
4. Battlefield V
5. NBA 2K19
6. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
7. Madden NFL 19
8. Spider-Man
9. FIFA 19
10. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

November Nintendo Switch

1. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu
2. Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee
3. Super Mario Party
4. Mario Kart 8
5. Super Mario Odyssey
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
7. Just Dance 2019
8. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
9. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
10. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

November 3DS

1. Luigi's Mansion
2. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
3. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
4. Super Mario 3D Land
5. Mario Kart 7
6. Super Smash Bros.
7. Minecraft
8. Detective Pikachu
9. Donkey Kong Country Returns
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included