Black Ops Cold War is already one of the top 20 best-selling games in US history

US consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories reached a January record $4.7 billion in 2021, according to data from market research firm NPD Group.

Total spending was up 42% compared to January 2020, with content sales hitting $4.17 billion (up 36%), hardware sales generating $319 million (up 144%) and accessories bringing in $222 million (up 73%).

Video game hardware sales reached their highest January total since 2011, led by Switch and PlayStation 5, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said.

Nintendo’s console sold the most units, with the highest volume of sales for any platform during a January month since Wii in 2010. Nintendo’s system has now been the best-selling console in the US for a record 26 consecutive months.

Sony’s supply constrained PS5 was the best-selling hardware in terms of dollar sales, with the highest total in a January month since Wii in 2009.

On the software front, January’s chart was led by 2020’s best-selling game, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The title, which launched in mid-November, already ranks among the top 20 best-selling games in US history, Piscatella said.

Publisher Activision recently announced plans to release a new premium Call of Duty game in the fourth quarter of 2021 and claimed that the Call of Duty franchise has generated $27 billion in lifetime sales since launching in 2003.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla was January’s second best-selling game in the US and is now the second-fastest selling series entry behind Assassin’s Creed 3. The same is true on a worldwide basis, publisher Ubisoft said earlier this week.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales, Madden NFL 21 and Animal Crossing New Horizons rounded off the top five on January’s US software chart, which didn’t include any new entries in the top 20.

PS5’s DualSense controller was the best-selling accessory in January, while PlayStation’s Pulse 3D wireless headset was the best-selling headset.

Further reading

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Switch and Call of Duty come out on top in a record-breaking year for US game sales

$56.9 billion was spent on hardware, content and accessories in 2020