NBA 2K20 is officially the best-selling video game of 2019, at least in the United States. Right behind it? Mortal Kombat 11, which was top dog ever since its launch back in April. Meanwhile, rounding out the top five is Borderlands 3, Madden NFL 20, and Kingdom Hearts III in that order. Of course, there’s a good chance NBA 2K20 isn’t number one on the global 2019 sales chart, as the sport is nowhere near as popular in the rest of the world as it’s in the United States. But still, this is impressive considering the game has only been out since September 6 and that it had a lot of controversy at launch for its numerous issues. Heck, it didn’t even review that well.
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Despite this, launch month sales for the game were the highest for a sports game in the United States, ever, surpassing its predecessor, the previous record holder. Meanwhile, as you can see, Borderlands 3 also had a strong debut month, shooting all the way to third. Again, overcoming its own issues. According to NPD, where all of this sales data comes from, it was the highest launch month sales for any game in the madcap looter-shooter series. Anyway, below, you can peep the full top 10 for the year so far:
- NBA 2K20
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Borderlands 3
- Madden NFL 20
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
- Anthem
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018 game)
- Resident Evil 2
- Grand Theft Auto V (2013 game)
The other takeaways here are that Anthem is currently sitting at number seven despite being one of the hottest messes of the generation. It’s more or less a dead game now, but clearly there was a lot of hype going into its launch. And of course, it can’t be overstated how impressive that Grand Theft Auto V, six years later, is still hanging around the top ten.
Again, it’s important to remember these are not global sales numbers, and only represent the United States market. That said, beyond NBA 2K20 and Madden NFL 20’s placements, it does provide a good idea on what have been the biggest launches this year.
Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think or hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there.
Source: NPD
