CoD: Modern Warfare Crowns NPD Charts for Third Straight Month, 2010s Top 20 Revealed

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for December 2019, but the month wasn’t quite as merry as it could've been for the industry. Consumers spent $2.98 billion on games and hardware, down 15 percent compared to December 2018. Despite plenty of great bundles on offer, hardware sales were down 17 percent year on year. Nintendo Switch was again #1 for the month, gaining sales year-on-year, but the flagging PS4 and Xbox One continue to drag the overall hardware numbers down.

On the software front, no new games hit the top 20. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare extended its streak at #1 to three months, while Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order once again took the #2 position. Good ol’ dependable Madden and NBA 2K rose back up to #3 and #4, while Luigi’s Mansion 3 surprisingly got a boost back to #5. Meanwhile, Pokemon Sword and Shield sputtered somewhat, and Death Stranding fell all the way off the list.

Here are December’s top 20 games according to NPD:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
3. Madden NFL 20
4. NBA 2K20
5. Luigi’s Mansion 3
6. Pokemon Sword
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
9. Pokemon Shield
10. Minecraft
11. Grand Theft Auto V
12. Red Dead Redemption II
13. FIFA 20
14. Just Dance 2020
15. Need for Speed Heat
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
17. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
19. Super Mario Party
20. Ring Fit Adventure

And here are your top 10 best selling games for 2019. Gotta give it to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for sneaking on there over 5 years after the original Wii U game’s release:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. NBA 2K20
3. Madden NFL 20
4. Borderlands 3
5. Mortal Kombat 11
6. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
8. Kingdom Hearts III
9. The Division 2
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Finally, as a bonus, here are the top 20 games of the 2010s!

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
4. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
6. Call Of Duty: Ghosts
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. Call of Duty: WWII
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
10. Minecraft
11. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
12. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
13. Skyrim
14. Mario Kart 8
15. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
16. Battlefield 1
17. Battlefield 4
18. Destiny
19. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20. Star Wars Battlefront (2015)

Phew, that’s a lot of Call of Duty! What games did you pick up in December? Do any of the NPD numbers from the past month (or decade) surprise you?