Considering just how well we already knew thatÂFinal Fantasy VII Remakedid in terms of sales after Square Enix announced that the game hadshipped 3.5 million copies in only three days, it should come as no surprise that the long-awaited action RPG also did fantastically in the newest monthly NPD charts.The sales totals for the month of April 2020 were released by The NPD Group early this morning, and as expected,ÂFinal Fantasy VII Remakewas the month’s biggest winner. Not only didÂFFVIIRbeat outÂCall of Duty: Modern WarfareandAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, which finished in second and third place respectively on the month, but the latest entry in the franchise is already the third best-selling title of the year and the top-seller on PS4.Additionally,ÂFinal Fantasy VII Remakeset some major records for its own franchise, too. NPD reports that the game is now the new most successful entry in the long-running series in terms of units sold and dollar sales in a launch month. Previously, the record holder for this wasFinal Fantasy XV, which arrived back in 2016. All in all, Square Enix has to be more than pleased with how theÂRemakehas done so far, especially since the game is still only available for now on a single platform.
As for the other biggest results in April 2020, Nintendo and the Switch continue to dominate the hardware space, with the handheld-hybrid platform once again being the best-selling for the month. That said, all hardware platforms have been doing quite well right now, which is likely indicative of the fact that many folks in the United States are now quarantining and staying inside. April 2020 spending grew by over 160% compared to 2019 and was the highest dollar sales month for April since 2008.
As a whole, sales from all areas of the video game industry are up, too. Spending has increased by 73% compared to April 2019 and much like with hardware, 2020 proved to be the best month of April that the industry has seen since 2008. Despite many industries around the globe hurting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the video game business seems to be thriving.
Below you can check out this month’s NPD video featuring Mat Piscatella is you’d like to see him go over the number from April 2020 in greater depth.