October 2022 NPD: Modern Warfare 2 nabs gold at the wire

Gaming hardware sales are down and consumer spending is still trending down slightly in October. The PlayStation 5 is also selling well, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. Several games launched in October have also made the best-sellers list, though none have done as well as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

“U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories totaled $4.3 billion during October 2022, flat when compared to a year ago,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “Growth in digital sales and subscriptions for console and PC video game content, driven in large part by the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was offset by declines in mobile content and video game hardware sales.”

It’s not exactly a surprise that a Call of Duty title sold so well. It’s more of a surprise that mobile and hardware sales are starting to decline. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles both appear to be selling well, but the aging Switch could explain the dip. Further, according to Sensor Tower’s provided data, mobile spending in the US will “see a decline for the first time ever” as it competes with non-mobile releases for attention.

Piscatella said, “Year-to-date spending has fallen 7% compared to this point in 2021, at $42.7 billion.”

October 2022 NPD: Top 20 best-selling games of the month in the U.S.

NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. Not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales.

These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold. And this is for full-game sales and does not include in-game spending.

Several of the games on the list were new releases in October — more so than in previous months. There have been enough games this month to make up for the relatively slow months earlier in the fall and late summer.

In addition to the new games, at least two games jumped up around 200 spots on the list. Persona 5 has made one of the year’s biggest comebacks, likely prompted by the release of the Royal edition on next-gen consoles, Switch and PC. NieR: Automata also got a bump in numbers thanks to its release on Switch.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Bayonetta 3

The new Call of Duty game doing well on the charts is not exactly a surprise, but the success is still worth noting. According to Activision Blizzard’s numbers, the game has sold $1 billion in sell-through within 10 days of its launch. The game also launched on October 28, meaning it managed to top the month’s list with only hours left.

Bayonetta 3, which also launched the same day as Modern Warfare 2 and likewise made the list despite its late debut. It was also working with the handicap that it’s exclusive to the Switch and that the NPD’s data set doesn’t include the platform’s digital sales.

Gotham Knights and other new releases

Gotham Knights also debuted high on the charts — not high enough to unseat Modern Warfare 2, but quite well all the same. While our review of the game was less-than-favorable, it appears the game did well with fans, likely because of its high-profile IP. It’s also the only other game this month other than Modern Warfare 2 to make the best-selling list of 2022 so far (see below). The same list also demonstrates how much more Call of Duty sold, as Modern Warfare 2 debuted at 2nd place, and Gotham Knights at 14th.

Other new releases to make the charts include Japanese RPG Star Ocean: The Divine Force and Mario title Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Sports titles continue to sell well, with new additions including NHL 23 and PGA Tour 2K23.

October 2022 NPD: 20 best-selling games of 2022 so far

October 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling games of the last 12 months

October 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling Nintendo-platform games in the U.S.

October 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling PlayStation-platform games in the U.S.

October 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling Xbox-platform games in the U.S.