The NPD has released its monthly report for November 2021, detailing video game sales spending including full-game, DLC/MTX, and subscriptions in the United States, and one of the main highlights is Forza Horizon 5. The latest installment released by Playground Games managed to set a new Forza franchise record for launch month sales, turning out to be the fourth best-selling game of last month only behind juggernauts like Call of Duty: Vanguard (#1), Battlefield 2042 (#2), and Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl (#3). On Xbox platforms, Forza Horizon 5 reached the podium's third place.
Call of Duty: Vanguard, despite being considered less successful than previous franchise installments, still got the top spot; according to the NPD, this is the 14th consecutive year where a Call of Duty game turns out to be the best-selling title of its release month. One last highlight for November 2021 is Shin Megami Tensei V, which recorded the highest launch month dollar sales of any Shin Megami Tensei title released yet.
| Rank | Last Month Rank | November 2021 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM, and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | NEW | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | NEW | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 4 | NEW | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 5 | 4 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 8 | Mario Party Superstars* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 7 | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 8 | 6 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | 1 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 10 | 10 | NBA 2K22* | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| 11 | NEW | Just Dance 2022 | Ubisoft |
| 12 | 11 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 13 | 17 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 14 | 15 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 15 | 2 | Back 4 Blood | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 16 | NEW | Shin Megami Tensei V | Atlus |
| 17 | 16 | Minecraft | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 18 | 20 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 19 | 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 20 | 13 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| * Digital sales not included |
All three best-selling games of November 2021 have also already appeared in the year-to-date Top 10, as you can see below.
| All Platforms | |||
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Year-to-Date Ending November 2021 Top 10 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM, and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | NEW | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 3 | 2 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 3 | MLB: The Show 21^ | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | 4 | Resident Evil: Village | Capcom USA |
| 6 | NEW | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | 5 | Super Mario 3D World* | Nintendo |
| 8 | NEW | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 6 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 10 | 8 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| * Digital sales not included | |||
| ^ Xbox Digital sales not included |
Overall, video game spending in the US fell 10% compared to November 2020, mostly due to a 20% drop in the accessories category. Still, year-to-date consumer spending in 2021 is 9% up compared to 2020, having reached $52.9 billion in total.
