NPD: The top 20 best-selling games of 2021 in the U.S. (2024)

Industry-tracking firm The NPD Group has revealed the top 20 best-selling games in the United States for 2021. And this list looks a lot like last year’s. If you were guessing Call of Duty came out on top, you are right twice over. NPD only includes games it actively tracks, so don’t expect to see something like Valheim on here. Take a look at the chart, and then scroll down to see the top 20 best-selling games for each platform.

Call of Duty’s momentum is undeniable even after 13 years of topping the charts in the United States. Other franchises, like Pokémon, Madden, and NBA 2K, follow a similar pattern, and they are also on the list. Pokémon had an especially good year thanks to the success of multiple games.

“The 2021 dollar sales of Pokémon franchise’s physical software reached its highest annual total since the year 2000,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said.

One thing that is happening with Pokémon is that sales begin to stack up over time. While millions of people show up to purchase a new release in the series, many people are still returning to Switch Pokémon games that debuted in previous years. Resident Evil is experiencing this same trend, and it led to a new record for Capcom’s horror series.

“Resident Evil: Village finished 2021 as the year’s No. 8 best-selling game,” said Piscatella. “Resident Evil franchise dollar sales reached a new all-time annual high for the U.S. market.”

MLB The Show 21, meanwhile, set a record by debuting on Xbox for the first time. It was able to outsell its predecessors even though NPD does not track digital MLB sales on Microsoft’s hardware.

Of course, the most notable aspect of the top 20 is its familiarity.

“Seven of the top 20 best-selling games of 2021 also ranked among the top 20 best-sellers of 2020,” said Piscatella. “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Mortal Kombat 11 all appeared on both the 2021 as well as 2020 best-selling titles charts. Mortal Kombat 11, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8 also appeared on the 2019 top 20 best-sellers chart.”

Gaming has changed from a medium where games age out quickly to one where a five-year-old Mario Kart game can outsell the newest smash-hit Resident Evil game.

Let’s do the platform charts.

Nintendo

PlayStation

Xbox