October 2020 NPD results see FIFA 21 on top

Strong performance for the Switch and sports titles.

What you need to know

• The October 2020 NPD results have been released.
• FIFA 21 was the #1 game of the month in dollar sales, while the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console.
• Watch Dogs: Legion debuted at #3.

Every month, the NPD Group releases information on the best-selling games, game consoles and accessories across all video game platforms in the United States. While it doesn’t account for total worldwide sales, it does provide a nice look at one of the largest video game markets. Mat Piscatella, a fantastic analyst for NPD, has shared the results for October 2020.

FIFA 21 debuted at the top spot, while Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion entered at the #3 position. EA Motive’s Star Wars: Squadrons jumped in at the #9 spot. Meanwhile, of the twenty top sellers for the month, nine games were Nintendo titles. The Nintendo Switch was also the bestselling console of the month, setting a new dollar sales record for the month of October in the U.S.

You can see the full charts and results below. It’s important to remember that NPD is based on dollar sales, not units sold. Also, not all publishers give data on digital copies sold.

Here are the October 2020 results:

• Total sales: $3.4 billion, up 14% year-over-year.

October 2020 NPD Here are the top 20 games sold in the U.S.

1. FIFA 21
2. Madden NFL 21
3. Watch Dogs: Legion
4. NHL 21
5. Mario Kart Live Home Circuit
6. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
8. Star Wars: Squadrons
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
10. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
11. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
12. Ghost of Tsushima
13. NBA 2K21
14. Marvel’s Avengers
15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
16. Ring Fit Adventure
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
18. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
19. Super Mario Party
20. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

October 2020 NPD Here are the best-selling games of August 2020 by platform:

October 2020 NPD PlayStation 4

1. FIFA 21
2. Madden NFL 21
3. Watch Dogs: Legion
4. Ghost of Tsushima
5. NHL 21
6. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
8. Star Wars: Squadrons
9. NBA 2K21
10. Marvel’s Avengers

October 2020 NPD Xbox One

1. FIFA 21
2. Watch Dogs: Legion
3. Madden NFL 21
4. NHL 21
5. Star Wars: Squadrons
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
7. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
8. NBA 2K21
9. Marvel’s Avengers
10. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

October 2020 NPD Nintendo Switch

1. Mario Kart Live Home Circuit
2. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
6. Ring Fit Adventure
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
8. Super Mario Party
9. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
10. Pikmin 3

Here are the top 10 best-selling games of 2020 in the U.S. so far:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Madden NFL 21
4. The Last of Us Part 2
5. Ghost of Tsushima
6. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
7. Super Mario 3d All-Stars
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

That’s all for this month’s report. As always, you can check Mat Piscatella’s thread for more information, or compare these results with the previous month’s sales. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in November, as the PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be charted and noted in the monthly report.