The games industry in the United States generated $749 million in revenue in July, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s up 14 percent from $655 million during the same period in 2017. Hardware and accessories drove most of that growth, although a big new Nintendo release and Grand Theft Auto V were able to help save the software sales.

Software

Octopath Traveler*
Grand Theft Auto V
Mario Kart 8*
Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
Far Cry 5
Super Mario Odyssey*
The Crew 2
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Mario Tennis Aces *
FIFA 18**
Lego Incredibles
God of War (2018)
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker*
NBA 2K18
Call of Duty: WWII
Detroit: Become Human
MLB 18: The Show
Minecraft**
Destiny 2**
The rest of the charts

The best-selling games of 2018 so far
Far Cry 5
God of War (2018)
Monster Hunter: World
Call of Duty: WWII
Grand Theft Auto V
Dragon Ball Fighterz
Mario Kart 8*
NBA 2K18
MLB 18: The Show
Super Mario Odyssey

The best-selling games over the last 12 months
Call of Duty: WWII
NBA 2K18
Destiny 2**
Madden NFL 18
Super Mario Odyssey
Far Cry 5
Star Wars: Battlefront II**
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Grand Theft Auto V
God of War 2018

Xbox One
Grand Theft Auto V
Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Far Cry 5
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
The Crew 2
FIFA 18
Call of Duty: WWII
NBA 2K18
Overwatch

PlayStation 4
Grand Theft Auto V
God of War (2018)
Detroit: Become Human
MLB 18: The Show
The Crew 2
Far Cry 5
FIFA 18
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Horizon Zero Dawn
NBA 2K18

Nintendo Switch*
Octopath Traveler
Mario Kart 8
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Odyssey
Mario Tennis Aces
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Splatoon 2
Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Lego Incredibles

Nintendo 3DS*
Pokemon: Ultra Sun
Pokemon: Ultra Moon
WarioWare: Gold
Mario Kart 7
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Super Smash Bros.
Super Mario 3D Land
Minecraft
Super Mario Maker
Detective Pikachu
*No digital sales
**No PC digital sales

The persistent narrative around Nintendo right now is that its Switch doesn’t have any games, and yet it is having a dominant summer 2018. After coming out on top with Mario Tennis Aces in June, Octopath Traveler took the No. 1 spot in July. That classic-style role-playing game blew up on the console and was able to have an impressive debut.

“Octopath Traveler was the best-selling game of July 2018,” said Piscatella. “Half of July’s top 10 best-sellers are Nintendo platform exclusives.”

“Nintendo is the top-selling full game software publisher for both July and year to date,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo Switch is the only platform showing year-on-year growth in full-game dollar sales with gains of nearly 70 percent when compared to a year ago, despite digital sales on Nintendo platforms not currently being tracked by The NPD Group. Year-to-date sales of full-game software on Nintendo Switch have more than doubled when compared to a year ago.”

Hardware

But it was the Switch that took July.

“Nintendo Switch was July’s best-selling hardware platform in both dollars and units sold,” said Piscatella. “This is the seventh month that Switch has led in hardware dollar sales since launching in March 2017, and the first since December 2017. Unit sales of Nintendo hardware in July 2018 reached its highest point for a July month since 2009.”

Microsoft and Sony are both doing just fine, though. Xbox One hardware sales are trending up. In terms of dollar sales, the Xbox One platform grew by 50 percent year-over-year in July. Year-to-date, it’s up more than 60 percent.