March 2020 NPD — Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the fastest-selling Nintendo games in history

What you need to know

• The March 2020 NPD results have been released.
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons is selling near-ridiculously well.
• The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of the month.

Every month, the NPD Group releases information on the top-selling games across all video game platforms in the United States. While it doesn't account for worldwide sales, it does provide a good snapshot of one the largest video game markets. Mat Piscatella, an analyst for NPD, has shared the results for March 2020.

To start off, Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold amazingly well, with the third-highest launch month sales of any Nintendo game ever. Only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Brawl had higher launch sales. Launch sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons also exceeded the lifetime sales of every other Animal Crossing game. The Nintendo Switch was also the best-selling console of the month, though Xbox One and PlayStation sales were also up year-over-year.

As always, remember that NPD is based on dollar sales, not units sold.

Here are the March 2020 results:

• Total sales: $1.1597 billion, up 35% from $1.186 billion year-over-year.
• Video games hardware: $461 million, up 63% from $282 million year-over-year.
• PC and video games software: $739 million, up 34% from $550 million year-over-year.
• Accessories and game cards: $397 million, up 12% from $354 million year-over-year.

March 2020 NPD: Here are the top 20 games sold in the U.S.

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. MLB: The Show 20
4. Resident Evil 3
5. NBA 2K20
6. Doom Eternal*
7. Persona 5: Royal
8. Grand Theft Auto V
9. Borderlands 3
10. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
11. Nioh 2
12. Red Dead Redemption II
13. FIFA 20
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
15. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX*
16. Madden NFL 20
17. Just Dance 2020
18. Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
19. Mortal Kombat 11
20. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered

• *Does not include digital sales
• **Does not include Steam sales
• ***Minecraft digital sales include Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but not other digital sales.

Here are the best-selling games of March 2020 by platform:

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
2. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
4. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX*
5. Just Dance 2020
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
7. Super Mario Party*
8. Luigi's Mansion 3*
9. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
10. Pokemon: Sword*

1. MLB: The Show 20
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. Persona 5: Royal
4. Resident Evil 3
5. NBA 2K20
6. Nioh 2
7. Doom Eternal*
8. Grand Theft Auto V
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered
10. FIFA 20

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. Resident Evil 3
3. Doom Eternal*
4. NBA 2K20
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Madden NFL 20
7. Red Dead Redemption II
8. Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order
9. FIFA 20
10. Minecraft: Xbox One Edition

Here are the top 10 best-selling games of 2020 in the U.S. so far:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
3. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
4. NBA 2K20
5. MLB: The Show 20
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Resident Evil 3
8. Madden NFL 20
9. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
10. Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order

That's all for the breakdown of this month's numbers. For more information, you can consult Mat Piscatella's thread right here. If you'd like details on last month's NPD breakdown, you can find that right here.