Splatoon 2 beats Crash Bandicoot to US No.1 in July

Splatoon 2 has beaten Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy to No.1 in the US last month, making it the best-selling title of the July, according to the latest data from NPD.

Splatoon 2 was one of three Nintendo titles in the Top Ten best-selling games last month, allowing Nintendo to claim the best-selling publisher of July as well. Breath of the Wild claimed the No.5 spot, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe came in at No.7 – an impressive feat when none of Nintendo’s title rankings have taken into account any digital sales.

Crash Bandicoot, meanwhile, gained two places to take No.2 in July, but Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is still the best-selling game year-to-date, according to NPD, with Ubisoft claiming the top-selling publisher.

Overall, it was a strong month for the US video game market, with sales of video game software and reached $277m in July. That’s an increase of 17 per cent year-on-year.

On the hardware side, spending in July grew 29 per cent year-on-year to $182m. Unsurprisingly, the Switch was the best-selling piece of hardware last month, driven largely by the launch of Splatoon 2. However, the PS4 is still the best-selling hardware platform year-to-date.

Likewise, total video game spending in July 2017, which includes hardware, software and accessories, grew 19 per cent year-on-year to $588m.

"The launch of Splatoon 2 on the Nintendo Switch, and month two sales of Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy drove software gains, while new supply of Nintendo Switch and continued strength of PlayStation 4 pushed hardware higher," NPD’s video game industry analyst Mat Piscatella said.

Here’s the Top Ten in full:

1. Splatoon 2 (Nintendo)
2. Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (Activision Blizzard)
3. Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two)
4. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Square Enix)
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
6. Injustice 2 (Warner Bros. Interactive)
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo)
8. Overwatch (Activision Blizzard)
9. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft)
10. NBA 2K17 (Take-Two)