PS5 Improved Supply Boosts Hardware Numbers and MultiVersus Tops the NPD Charts in July

The NPD Group has released their full North American sales data for July 2022, and while it was another somewhat down month for the industry, things are looking brighter in some respects. Overall, players spent $4.2 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in July. That represents a year-on-year decrease of 9 percent, although spending is returning to 2020 levels (2021 was particularly inflated by the pandemic). Interestingly, hardware sales were actually up year-on-year (12 percent) for the first time in a while, driven by improved PlayStation 5 supply. Overall, PS5 was #1 in dollar sales in July, while Switch remained top in unit sales.

Turning to the software side of things, Warner Bros’ hit crossover fighter MultiVersus took the top spot, while Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came in at #4 (a solid result considering the game was only on sale for 3 days during the month) and Digimon Survive was #8. Elsewhere, Elden Ring and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga continued their impressive runs, coming in at #2 and #3 respectively.

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

1. MultiVersus
2. Elden Ring
3. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
4. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
5. Call of Duty: Vanguard
6. MLB The Show 22
7. Mario Kart 8
8. Digimon Survive
9. Minecraft
10. F1 22
11. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
12. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
13. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
14. Overwatch
15. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
16. Nintendo Switch Sports
17. Call of Duty: Back Ops Cold War
18. Far Cry 6
19. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
20. Monster Hunter Rise

And here are the top-10 best-selling games of 2022 thus far:

1. Elden Ring
2. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
3. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
4. Horizon Forbidden West
5. MLB The Show 22
6. Call of Duty: Vanguard
7. Gran Turismo 7
8. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
9. Mario Kart 8
10. Madden NFL 22

What are your thoughts on the July NPD numbers? Anything surprise you? Will the supply situation for PS5 and other next-gen consoles continue to improve?