December 2018 NPD: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tops the Fight

The December 2018 NPD results are in, with NPD analyst Mat Piscatella and the team at VentureBeat compiling the numbers. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate led the charge for December, topping the charts as the bestselling game of December 2018. Additionally, it instantly jumped up and became the fifth bestselling game of 2018.

The Nintendo Switch was the bestselling console of December 2018, as well as the bestselling console of 2018 as a whole. Red Dead Redemption 2 continued strong performance as the third-bestselling game of December 2018 and is the bestselling game of 2018.

Here’s the numbers for December 2018: 

• Total: $3.415 billion (up 2 percent from $3.338 billion in December 2017)
• Hardware: $1.168 billion (down 8 percent from $1.272 billion)
• PC and console software: $1.237 billion (down 3 percent from $1.281 billion)
• Accessories and game cards: $1.01 billion (up 29 percent from $785 million)

Here’s the December 2018 game sales rankings (based on dollar sales, not units):

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4.  Battlefield V**
5. NBA 2K19
6. Mario Kart 8*
7. Madden NFL 19**
8. Super Mario Party*
9. Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
10. Marvel’s Spider-Man
11. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
12. Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
13. Super Mario Odyssey*
14. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
15. Just Cause 4
16. FIFA 19
17. Grand Theft Auto V
18. Minecraft
19. Spyro Reignited Trilogy**
20. Fallout 76*

*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales

Here’s the bestselling games of 2018:

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
3. NBA 2K19
4. Madden NFL 19
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
6. Marvel’s Spider-Man
7. Far Cry 5
8. God of War 2018
9. Monster Hunter: World
10. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
11. Grand Theft Auto V
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. FIFA 19**
14. Battlefield V**
15. Super Mario Odyssey*
16. Call of Duty: WWII**
17. Dragon Ball: FighterZ
18. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
19. Super Mario Party*
20. Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*

Here’s the bestselling games of December 2018 by platform:

PS4 

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

Xbox One 

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
3. Battlefield V
4. Madden NFL 19
5. NBA 2K19
6. Forza Horizon 4
7. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
8. Just Cause 4
9. Grand Theft Auto V
10. FIFA 19

Nintendo Switch

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 
2. Mario Kart 8
3. Super Mario Party
4. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu 
5. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee
6. Super Mario Odyssey
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
8. Splatoon 2
9. Minecraft 
10. Just Dance 2019

For more information, please consult Mat Piscatella’s thread here and VentureBeat here. If you’d like to see the results for the November 2018 NPD charts, check here.