Nintendo Switch, Red Dead Redemption 2 Will Be 2018's Best Sellers Says NPD

This year's going to be a pretty big one for gaming. But the NPD believes that there are some clear cut winners that are going to take 2018 with ease.

In a new report, NPD's Mat Pistacella made a few predictions as far as how the year will go in terms of big sellers.

The Nintendo Switch will become the top-selling console, somehow managing to eke out a win over the PlayStation 4, according to the report.

But that's not all. It also predicted the best-selling game for 2018, although it's not really too big a surprise since Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily the most anticipated sequel for this year.

"In a very tight race, Red Dead Redemption 2 will edge out Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to be both the best-selling game of Q4, and 2018's best-selling game of the year," the report notes. The top five list is as follows:

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
3. Battlefield V
4. NBA 2K19
5. Far Cry 5

As for the Switch, Pistacella said, "Driven by the launches of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!, Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo Switch will be the best-selling console of the fourth quarter in unit sales, while also elevating the platform to be the best-selling console of the year."

The following notes were also laid out in the report:

• By year's end, the time aligned installed base of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will exceed that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by 6 percent and will be ahead of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by at least 30 percent.
• All three current generation consoles will each generate at least 4m units sold in 2018. Total 2018 hardware sales across all console and portable platforms should exceed 17.5m units, the highest total achieved in the U.S. market since 2012.
• Headset and gamepad sales will continue to show very strong growth rates through the rest of 2018, with high double-digit growth shown in the fourth quarter for both accessory types.
• Physical video game title release count will exceed 400 unique titles, finishing the year up at least 15 percent when compared to 2017.
• Physical video game software dollar sales will finish the year with growth of at least 8 percent when compared to a year ago, while digital full-game sales will continue to grow at double digit percentage rates.
• Throughout the remainder of 2018, we should also continue to see strong growth in spending on subscription services.

It'll be interesting to see if all this pans out, but 2018 is definitely going to have an awesome run!