Top 10 Best-Selling Games Of 2017 Revealed In The US

The NPD Group today released its much-anticipated reports covering December 2017 and the full-year 2017 for video game sales--hardware and software-- in the United States. Starting with game sales, Call of Duty: WWII was the best-selling game of the year. NBA 2K18, Destiny 2 (PC sales not included), Madden NFL 18, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (digital sales not included) rounded out the top five. You can see the full Top 10 list below.

For December 2017 alone, Call of Duty: WWII led the way as the best-selling title of the month, followed by Star Wars: Battlefront II, Super Mario Odyssey, NBA 2K18, and Mario Kart 8 in that order. Notably, PUBG also made it into the chart, landing at No. 7. December 2017 marked the eighth year running that a Call of Duty game was No. 1 in December.

For December alone, total spending covering games, hardware, and accessories rose 10 percent to $3.3 billion. For the full year, total spending across all sectors reached $14.6 billion, representing an 11 percent increase compared to the year prior.

Game sales specifically in December amounted to $1.3 billion, up 1 percent, while full-year spending on games rose 4 percent to $6.7 billion. In terms of the total number of packaged video games sold at retail this year, this figure rose from 271 packaged releases in 2016 to 314 in 2017; this represents a 16 percent increase.

The genre that showed the greatest growth of all major genres in 2017 was Racing, which saw sales of its titles jump by 68 percent compared to 2016. The Shooter category, however, drove the most revenue, which makes sense with Call of Duty and Battlefront II on top of the charts.

In terms of hardware, the Nintendo Switch sold the most units in December, but the PlayStation 4 sold the most for all of 2017. In December, spending on hardware rose 27 percent to $1.3 billion, and for the full year, total spend on hardware jumped by an impressive 28 percent, to $4.7 billion.

The NPD Group noted that the PS4 and Xbox One, combined, are on a "record-setting [sales] pace." This is notable given that, before they launched, some questioned if traditional video game consoles were still viable. Clearly, they are.

"Over the first 50 months in market for each console, the combined hardware installed base of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One now exceeds that of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by 18 percent, and that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by 4 percent," the NPD Group said.

And as Nintendo announced already, the Nintendo Switch sold more consoles in the US over its first 10 months than any platform from any other company in history. December was a strong month for the 3DS, too, reaching the highest since December 2014.

Finally, the Accessories category saw flat sales for December 2017 of $735 million compared to the same month a year ago. For the full year, Accessories sales rose 2 percent to $3.2 billion. For December 2017 and the full year, Sony's black DualShock 4 controller was the top-selling accessory.