2015 is over, and it’s time to count the money the gaming industry made.

New video games sold at U.S. retailers made $13.1 billion for the second year in a row. That was thanks to strong releases for the new systems while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fall into irrelevancy.

But really, it’s all about these games:

The 10 best-selling games of the year
1.Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
2.Madden NFL 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
3.Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
4.Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
5.Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One) 360, PS3, PC)
6.NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
7.Minecraft (360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
8.FIFA 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
9.Mortal Kombat X (PS4, Xbox One)
10.Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)

It’s not a surprise that, once again, Call of Duty is one of the top-selling games of the year. The franchise was the biggest breakout hit of last generation, and nothing has really unseated it so far on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Likewise, it doesn’t shock anyone that Fallout 4 is near the top of this list. Bethesda games are almost always instant blockbusters, and gamers had a lot of pent-up demand for this one. But it couldn’t outperform Madden, which is always in the top 3.

Star Wars made it into the top 5, and it even sold better on the Xbox One than on PlayStation 4. That was probably partially because of the pack-in deal with the PS4; those copies don’t count toward this list.

Finally, this list shows that while familiar franchises sell — FIFA, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat — you don’t see Assassin’s Creed or Need For Speed. That might mean that it’s possible that fans are punishing those games for a perceived lack of quality in previous releases.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/14/20...s-of-the-year/

Man, Halo 5 didnt even crack the top 10? Did the franchise really take a hit after the Master Chief Collection failure, or are players just moving on?

There just aren't enough Xbox Ones in the world. I bet if that had been a cross gen release it might have made it, barely.

Was secretly hoping something like Witcher 3 was in there, but I guess its not enough for the casual fan. There is only one game (Fallout 4) in that list I even own which is kinda sad (well I did own Minecraft for a few months to play with my nephew but I got bored of it quickly and sold it).

NPD is Americas only, isn't it? In the US the XBox One and PS4 sales are pretty close, and release date wise it would be probably be similar to the same time frame as Halo 3 with the XBox 360 I think. Not a huge Halo fan, so i'm not entirely sure but it did feel like the hype for the franchise dropped a lot.

Also remember NPD doesn't count digital, however much of an effect that might make.

...although this is just for the U.S. Supposedly LTD sales in the U.S. put the PS4 around 12.4 million and the XB1 at 11.1 million consoles sold.

Interesting -- but not surprising -- that there's not a single exclusive on there. I wonder what the list would look like if limited to just 2015 releases (so taking out GTAV, Minecraft, and CoD:AW). With the numbers Witcher III pulled, surely it'd be on a 2015-titles-in-2015 list.

Wow. GTA V is still selling like bananas.

I did not order Halo 5 because of the issues I had with coop and Halo Collection.


Also, I would guess that list would be really similar world wide with of course Madden not making the top 10...Fifa would be probably top 3...I am not sure about the NBA game since it does actually sale outside America.

I actually didn't realize Mortal Kombat had been that big of a hit, and I'm especially surprised that it's on the list and Arkham Knight isn't. So with AK, they have a global icon and a series that's always been praised for its quality, and they still can't crack the top 10?

To be fair, it was close between CoD:AW, AK, and Mortal Kombat X, and Arkham Knight sold more worldwide than MK X.

It's tough to compete against combined totals from multiple platforms. Plus Halo is kind of a tired franchise at this point (IMO at least, as much as people give COD crap for being the same thing every year, Halo is even worse about it).

Worldwide changes the list up quite well, but Madden would likely still be there since it's also on the Xbox 360 and PS3. MGS V would also be on the list.

How is once every 2-3 years worse than a yearly title?

I'm still baffled by Fallout's success. That isn't a commentary on the perceived quality of that game (I don't play it,so I wouldn't know), but it just seems like that franchise would not have the mass appeal that it does. For it to rank that high, only being out for a fraction of 2015, is just incredibly impressive.

NPD has always been more of a guessing game then actual data I'm not sure why it's still used. It's the same as Nielsen ratings with tv. Neither of these are relevant in this day and age.

How is it a guessing game? I thought they got hard numbers, and the knock against them was just that they didn't get numbers from every retailer like Wal-Mart or Steam. But I thought they were relatively accurate going by the outlets that did report numbers to them.

Well like you said they don't get numbers from every retailer. They don't get numbers from digital. Game companies regularly inflate their sales numbers to make them look good and don't report numbers that are going to make them look bad, etc.

While that was true at one time, NPD has been getting numbers from Walmart for years now.

NPD doesn't rely on sales reported by game companies, at least not for physical sales. They key off point-of-sale systems.

These numbers are intended for manufacturers and retailers. A superior alternative does not exist at present.

Yeah, taking them as the end all be all probably isn't the best idea, but I still think they hold some value as a general gauge of how some titles are doing. That said, the NPDs (outside of being a curiosity like weekend box office reports) really aren't for us so their validity or lack thereof doesn't really mean a ton any way you slice it.

Ah, interesting. The last time I really was up on NPDs is when I used to listen to 1up Yours way back when. So everything I know about NPDs stems from how they used to work back then.

I seriously wonder what percentage of AAA console titles are sold digitally (not counting console bundles). Do you think it's as high as 10%?

20% is the number I seem to see the most.

It doesn't matter if it comes out once a year or once every few years if it's the exact same thing repackaged.

I recently switched to all digital for convenience purposes.

I'm surprised by Madden numbers. I didn't expect it to be that high. Even if they are USA numbers.

And yeah, surprised by Halo not being in the list.

COD is something more than a game. So I expect it to be number 1 for a few more years.

And yeah, I'm also surprised to see Fallout 4 that high.