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Monster Hunter World And Dragon Ball FighterZ Ascend January U.S. Sales Rankings
The first sales numbers from 2018 show Capcom's Monster Hunter World and Dragon Ball FighterZ, both games releasing on January 26, are the best selling games of the month.
The two Japanese titles were strong contenders to come out on top, as they were the most significant retail releases so far in 2018. Dragon Ball FighterZ had the strongest debut of any Dragon Ball game in the U.S. since Dragon Ball Budokai on the PlayStation 2 in 2002. Monster Hunter World was the best selling title overall, while also topping both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sales rankings, cementing it as the best debut in the series in the west.
Capcom has previously stated that Monster Hunter World is the fastest selling game in the publisher's history.
Here's the list of the top 20 games for the month of January.
| Monster Hunter: World | 1 | |
| Dragon Ball: FighterZ | 2 | |
| Call of Duty: WWII | 3 | |
| Playerunknown's Battlegrounds | 4 | |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 5 | |
| NBA 2K18 | 6 | |
| Super Mario Odyssey* | 7 | |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | 8 | |
| Mario Kart 8* | 9 | |
| Madden NFL 18 | 10 | |
| Star Wars: Battlefront II | 11 | |
| Assassin's Creed: Origins | 12 | |
| UFC 3 | 13 | |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege | 14 | |
| FIFA 18 | 15 | |
| Dragon Ball: Xenoverse | 16 | |
| The Sims 4 | 17 | |
| Splatoon 2* | 18 | |
| Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT | 19 | |
| Need for Speed: Payback | 20 |
Titles with an asterisk do not count digital sales. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds does not count digital sales on PC.
Many of 2017's biggest games, such as Call of Duty: WWII and Assassin's Creed Origins are still hanging around with nearly as much strength as the previous year. Microsoft have positioned PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds well, tying the game's console release to the Xbox with a strong sales presence. Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT, the newest game in the 3D fighter series, debuted at 19th, despite releasing only a few days after Dragon Ball FighterZ and Monster Hunter.
In terms of hardware, the battle between Switch and PlayStation 4 continues to be one of victories on both sides. While Switch sold the most units, the PlayStation 4 generated the most revenue. Microsoft was not incredibly far behind, as the gap between the PlayStation 4's revenue and Microsoft's revenue, even at third place, was only three percent.
Much like December, the 3DS had one of its best month-aligned sales records, having its best January in terms of dollar amount since January 2014, and best in terms of unit sales since January 2013.
Our Take
It's incredible how well Monster Hunter and Dragon Ball did. While they are the most notable releases so far, they sold incredibly well in a vacuum, and their rankings are not due to a lack of competition. Capcom and Bandai Namco are likely incredibly bullish about the rest of the year, especially after Capcom admitted disappointment in the sales of their 2017 titles Resident Evil VII and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
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