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May 2017 NPD: Injustice 2 Comes Out On Top In A Slow Sales Month
NPD Group has released its monthly industry sales report, and while hardware sales rose a healthy 7 percent over last May, game sales took a big hit, leading to a net downturn for the industry. Console software sales (physical plus PSN/Xbox Live) were down 20 percent compared to the month last year, while PC software (physical and Steam sales) dropped a whopping 48 percent. Part of the drop can be attributed to a stellar line-up in May 2016, which included Uncharted 4, Doom, and Blizzard's uber-popular Overwatch.
All that said, the slow sales allowed some smaller titles to make a big splash on the NPD Top 20 this month. First place went to Warner Bros.' super-brawler, Injustice 2, while Arkane's sci-fi playground Prey came in at a respectable fifth place. Mario Kart 8, GTA V, and Breath of the Wild continued their lengthy stays in the Top 10, as did Overwatch – despite Battle.net sales not being included in the ranking. Here's the full list, courtesy of NPD.
NPD Top 20 Games For May 2017
01. Injustice 2
02. Mario Kart 8
03. Grand Theft Auto V
04. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
05. Prey 2017
06. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
07. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia
08. NBA 2K17
09. MLB 17: The Show
10. Overwatch
11. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
12. Horizon Zero Dawn
13. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
15. Mass Effect: Andromeda
16. Farpoint
17. Battlefield 1
18. Nier: Automata
19. Minecraft
20. FIFA 17
Our Take
It's nice to see games like Injustice 2 and Prey getting some well-deserved time in the spotlight among the usual juggernauts. Given the slow summer release schedule, they may continue to sell well in the coming months.
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