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Anthem Sales Open Strong In The US, Second-Biggest BioWare Release Ever For First Month

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The NPD Group has released its US sales report for February, revealing the best-selling hardware and software for the month and providing an overall health update on the industry.

Starting with game sales, BioWare’s Anthem was the best-selling title of the month, beating out other new releases like Jump Force, Far Cry New Dawn, and Metro Exodus.

Anthem enjoyed the second highest launch-month sales in BioWare’s history, only behind 2012’s Mass Effect 3. It is now 2019’s second best-selling game, trailing only Kingdom Hearts III. One caveat to mention with Anthem is that PC digital sales are not included. Publisher Electronic Arts has not shared any hard sales data for Anthem.

Also notable on the software side is that Metro Exodus debuted at No. 8; it was outsold by a number of 2018 games such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Red Dead Redemption II. Still, Exodus’ first-month sales were the highest in franchise history, eclipsing the first-month sales of Metro: Last Light by almost 50 percent, according to the NPD. As with Anthem, PC digital sales for Metro Exodus are not included.

In total, February software spending in the US across console, portable, and PC games reached $457 million, which is up 15 percent. Year-to-date, spending stands at $896 million, and that’s up 10 percent compared to last year.

You can see the best-seller charts for February 2019 at the bottom of this post.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was February’s best-selling platform. It is also the highest-selling system of 2019. Also notable is that Nintendo posted its highest February month for hardware sales since February 2011. Across all platforms, hardware spending dropped 12 percent year-over-year to $277 million.

February 2019 US Sales

Top 20 Games All Platforms

  1. Anthem^
  2. Jump Force
  3. Kingdom Hearts III
  4. Far Cry New Dawn
  5. Red Dead Redemption II
  6. Resident Evil 2
  7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  8. Metro: Exodus^
  9. NBA 2K19
  10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  11. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
  12. Mario Kart 8*
  13. Grand Theft Auto V
  14. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
  16. Minecraft#
  17. Super Mario Party*
  18. Rainbow Six Siege
  19. Madden NFL 19^
  20. Spider-Man

2019 Year-To-Date Top 10 Games

  1. Kingdom Hearts III
  2. Anthem^
  3. Resident Evil 2
  4. Jump Force
  5. Red Dead Redemption II
  6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  8. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
  9. NBA 2K19
  10. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

All Platforms 12 Months Ending February 2019

  1. Red Dead Redemption II
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  3. NBA 2K19
  4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  5. Madden NFL 19^
  6. Spider-Man
  7. Far Cry 5
  8. God of War
  9. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  10. Mario Kart 8*

February 2019 Xbox One

  1. Anthem
  2. Jump Force
  3. Far Cry New Dawn
  4. Red Dead Redemption II
  5. Kingdom Hearts III
  6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  7. NBA 2K19
  8. Resident Evil 2
  9. Metro: Exodus
  10. Grand Theft Auto V

February 2019 PS4

  1. Anthem
  2. Jump Force
  3. Kingdom Hearts III
  4. Red Dead Redemption II
  5. Resident Evil 2
  6. Metro: Exodus
  7. Far Cry New Dawn
  8. NBA 2K19
  9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  10. Spider-Man

February 2019 Nintendo Switch

  1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  2. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
  3. Mario Kart 8
  4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  5. Super Mario Party
  6. Super Mario Odyssey
  7. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu
  8. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee
  9. Splatoon 2
  10. Minecraft

February 2019 3DS

  1. Yo-Kai Watch 3
  2. Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
  3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey
  4. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
  5. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
  6. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
  7. Super Smash Bros.
  8. Super Mario Maker
  9. Mario Kart 7
  10. Super Mario 3D Land

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/anthem-sales-open-strong-in-the-us-second-biggest-/1100-6465696/

Google’s Stadia Controller Hides The Konami Code, Which Has Some New Tricks

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At Google’s GDC 2019 keynote, company VP Phil Harrison revealed a new cloud gaming streaming service called Stadia. During the presentation, Harrison also unveiled a new controller specifically designed for Stadia. The floor model that’s currently being displayed at the show, as confirmed by GameSpot’ sister site CNET, has the Konami code engraved on it. You can see the engraving in the tweet below.

According to Polygon, you can go to Stadia’s website and actually input the Konami code with your computer keyboard to find a cool Easter egg: a 3D model of the new controller. You can spin the controller around on your screen in order to get a better idea as to how it’s shaped. For those who don’t know, the full Konami code is up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start. You only need to input the first 10 keys, however, to see the controller model on Stadia’s website.

The Konami code engraving isn’t the only unique aspect of Stadia’s controller. It also comes with a share button that allows you to upload footage straight to your YouTube channel. Another button allows you to ask Google Assistant a question at anytime. Stadia’s controller links to the platform via Wi-Fi as well.

During the Google keynote, the company described Stadia as a platform meant to unify players, spectators, and developers. So, for example, you’ll be able to watch a YouTube trailer for a game and then, if you want, just start playing said title via cloud streaming within a few seconds. Stadia will feature cross-platform support as well, allowing you to play with others regardless of system. As Stadia will support cloud saves for game state and save files, it should have cross-platform progression for specific games as well.

At launch, Stadia will stream games up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS, and Google has scheduled plans to increase that threshold to 8K resolution. Stadia is scheduled to release sometime this year and will be supported across several platforms, including desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets, and phones. In an interview with GameSpot, Ubisoft chief executive officer Yves Guillemot said that Stadia should be viewed as a platform that exists alongside consoles and PCs, and not a replacement. For now, anyway.

You can read up on how cloud gaming works if you have additional questions about it, and also see which companies are making the largest strides and investing the most time and resources behind it. We’ve collected all of the Google gaming news announced during the GDC keynote too–including the reveal that Doom Eternal will release on Stadia. We’ve captured gameplay of Doom Eternal on Stadia as well if you want to know what it looks like.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/googles-stadia-controller-hides-the-konami-code-wh/1100-6465695/

GDC: Google Forms First-Party Games Studio For Stadia

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Google has finally given the world its first look at its big video game initiative: Stadia, an ambitious cloud gaming platform that will allow players to stream games across smartphones, tablets, computers, and TVs. The company has already announced a handful of third-party titles coming to the platform, but it’ll also be venturing into game development with its own internal studio.

During its Game Developers Conference presentation, Google announced the formation of Stadia Games and Entertainment, a first-party studio that will develop titles exclusively for the platform. No projects have been announced just yet, but Google revealed the studio will be led by Jade Raymond, a former studio head at Ubisoft and EA.

We first learned that Raymond was hired by Google last week, when she announced she was joining the company as a vice president. At the time, her exact role was unclear, but her hiring further signified Google was making a serious attempt at entering the video game space.

Few other games have been announced for Stadia at this juncture, but Google also showed off Assassin’s Creed Odyssey–which was the same game the company used for its Project Stream test last year–running on the platform. We also got confirmation that Doom Eternal is coming to Stadia, as is a new game from Star Fox co-creator Dylan Cuthbert’s studio, Q-Games.

Google says it will share more details about Stadia’s launch lineup this summer. The platform is slated to launch later this year and will initially be available in the US, Canada, the UK, and “most of” Europe. You can read more about how cloud gaming works and check out all of the Google gaming news from today’s event.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-google-forms-first-party-games-studio-for-stad/1100-6465687/

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