The NPD Group has officially named Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare as the best-selling game of 2016 in the United States. Infinity Ward’s far-future shooter placed number one ahead of Battlefield 1 and The Division, while EA’s one-two punch of NBA 2K17 and Madden NFL 17 rounded out the top five on NPD’s round-up.
In tandem with that report, Activision has announced that Call of Duty as a whole became the “top-selling console video game franchise globally for 2016 based on revenue,” thanks to the combined haul of Black Ops III and Infinite Warfare. The publisher didn’t disclose how each title fared, but given the latter reportedly undermined when compared to previous installments, there’s no doubting that Treyarch’s Black Ops III had a big say in making that milestone a reality. Also important to note is the wording of Activision’s press release, as revenue doesn’t always equate to sales.
That being said, at least in the United States, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare proved to be the top-selling title through physical and digital retailers in 2016 – marking the eighth consecutive year that a Call of Duty title has dominated sales charts in the States. We’ve included the comprehensive top 10 below, just keep in mind that NPD’s report doesn’t factor in Overwatch‘s Battle.net sales.
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Battlefield 1
- The Division
- NBA 2K17
- Madden NFL 17
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Overwatch
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- FIFA 17
- Final Fantasy XV
Here’s the official word from Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg on those sales figures:
“Call of Duty is the #1 console franchise worldwide in 2016. We’re thankful to our players for once again putting Call of Duty on top, and we recognize how rare this is to do year after year. That’s why we push to deliver innovations and incredible gameplay that are worthy of the best fans in the world time and again. And we have an exciting year ahead in 2017.”
Coupled with its end-of-year review, the NPD Group also rolled out its report for December 2016, when Infinite Warfare once again took the top spot, followed by Final Fantasy XV and Battlefield 1, respectively. Indeed, Square Enix’s JRPG went down as the best-selling PS4 for the month, with NPD noting that, “Final Fantasy XV experienced the best console launch month in the history of the franchise (since tracking began in 1995) selling 19 percent more new physical units than Final Fantasy XIII in its launch month and 54 percent more in total dollar revenue including digital full game sales.”
Final Fantasy XV has currently shipped more than 6 million units worldwide. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, on the other hand, is set to launch its first expansion, Sabotage, for PS4 users on January 31.