Despite that new record, the Nintendo Switch has continued its reign as the best selling hardware platform in both units and dollars during March 2021. However, the PS5 did rank first in hardware dollar sales in Q1 2021.
March video game hardware dollar sales as a whole were 47% higher than they were in March 2020, and set a March record of $680 million. Year-to-date hardware spending has totaled $1.4 billion, which is also an increase of 81% year-over-year.
As for games, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War returned to the top spot in March 2021, while also securing the best-selling title of both the first quarter and 12-month period ending March 2021.
Nintendo Switch-exclusive Monster Hunter Rise claimed the number two spot and has become the second-best selling Monster Hunter game in terms of dollar sales, only trailing Monster Hunter: World.Outriders rounded out the top three, and also claimed the number three spot on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe came in at number six, and has also become the best-selling racing game in U.S. history. Speaking of Mario, Super Mario 3D All-Stars rose from 16th to 9th place from last month, with sales surely increased due to the infamous “Day Mario Dies.”
Lastly, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time’s Switch release accounted for the game’s rise from 65th place in February to 15th in March.The full list of March 2021’s top 20 best-selling games is as follows;
March 2021’s Best-Selling Games
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Outriders
- Super Mario 3D World
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Minecraft
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Pokemon Sword & Shield
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Madden NFL 21
- NBA 2K21
- Super Mario Party
- FIFA 21
March 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content, and accessories reached a March record of $5.6 billion, 18% higher when compared to March 2020.All of these hardware sales records are impressive considering the fact that supply of these next-gen consoles are still lower than demand, in part due to global semiconductor shortages. Furthermore, although there are rumors of a “Switch Pro,” the Switch shows no sign of stopping its successful sales streak.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
