The NFL might be struggling with attracting fans, but when it comes to video game football, excitement is at a six-year high.
Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 19 was the bestselling game in August and posted its highest launch month sales in six years, according to The NPD Group. The bump comes as overall video game spending surged to $796 million, a 26% increase compared to a year ago.
This year, on the whole, has been a good one for the video game industry. Spending is up 17% to $7.5 billion so far, with what’s expected to be a lucrative holiday season still to come.
The biggest title on the horizon is Take-Two Interactive Software’s Red Dead Redemption 2, from Rockstar Games, the creators of Grand Theft Auto. That’s likely to put two of the developer’s titles into the Top 10 for the year.
Grand Theft Auto V, which long ago became the best-selling game in tracked history, has been among the top 10 sellers for 59 of the 60 months it has been available. It is, at present, the fifth best-selling game of 2018, an unheard of ranking for a five-year old game that originally came out with the last generation of consoles.
Here’s how the month’s top selling games ranked. (NPD does not publicly offer precise sales figures.)
- Madden NFL 19
- Monster Hunter: World
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Mario Kart 8
- Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker
- God of War
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
