Red Dead Redemption 2 has been confirmed a massive hit for Rockstar Games on all platforms.
And news today has revealed more on the overall sales charts from 2018, with Red Dead 2 firmly leading the pack.
As many would suspect, Red Dead 2 sold very well on PS4 and Xbox One and performed exceptionally well in the United States.
According to the NPD group that tracks sales date in the US, Red Dead Redemption 2 was the best selling game of last year.
Rockstar Games managed to bump Call of Duty Black Ops 4 into second place, a massive feat considering how big the franchise is.
But it might come as a shocking twist that Red Dead Redemption 2 was not the best selling game in December 2018.
According to the latest data, Super Smash Bros Ultimate stole the crown from RDR2, on a console with a much smaller install base.
The Nintendo Switch has been estimated to have sold around 24 million units, nowhere near the combined number of PS4s and Xbox Ones.
Analyst for the NPD Group, Mat Piscatella, confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the best-selling game of December 2018 and instantly becomes the 5th best-selling game of 2018, despite digital sales not currently being tracked by The NPD Group.
“Packaged software launch month dollar sales of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate exceeded those of the previous best in franchise history, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by over 70 per cent.
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sets a new launch month dollar sales record for a platform exclusive in Video Game history, exceeding the launch month dollar sales of 2010’s Halo: Reach.”
And Nintendo will certainly be hoping to replicate December’s Super Smash success in 2019, considering that more Switch consoles will have been sold.
A new Pokemon RPG game is scheduled for launch in the second half of this year, another title that will have incredible selling power for Nintendo.
It should also be noted that the numbers currently confirmed by NPD may not have the full amount of data included.
This is because the NPD Group does not currently track Black Ops 4 digital sales on PC.
According to Piscatella, this “made all the difference to the rankings,” meaning that things may have turned out differently if COD was still running on Steam.
New data released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and The NPD Group confirm that the U.S. video game industry generated a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018.
This is up 18 per cent from 2017 and a massive accomplishment for an industry still waiting to see new hardware releases from Sony and Microsoft.
“2018 was another record-setting year for the U.S. video game industry as consumer spending jumped 18 per cent to over $43 billion. Whether it was playing on the go on a mobile device or at home on a PC or console, consumers of all ages and interests found compelling content that delighted in 2018,” said Mat Piscatella, video games industry analyst, The NPD Group.
“Console, PC, and mobile platforms all saw significant growth while developing portions of the market like subscription and streaming services gave us a peek into a future full of possibilities for the industry and gamers.”