NPD: Black Ops is 7th biggest game ever

By Fred Dutton Published 9 December, 2010

Plus: Donkey Kong, NFS outsell GT5.

Call of Duty: Black Ops has become the 7th biggest-selling game ever released in the US after just three weeks on sale.

According to NPD data released today, Treyarch's shooter sold 8.4 million copies during November, easily conquering the monthly top 10 chart and accounting for 25 per cent of all software sales for the period.

Elsewhere in the chart, US buyers picked up more copies of Donkey Kong Country Returns than they did Sony's Gran Turismo 5, though had slightly more time to do so. The former was released on 21st November, the latter on 24th November.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit also beat out Gran Turismo 5, though it's worth bearing in mind that EA's racer is multi-platform and was on sale for eight more days than the PlayStation 3 exclusive.

The full US November top 10 looks like this:

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  2. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  3. Just Dance 2
  4. Madden NFL 11
  5. Fable III
  6. Donkey Kong Country Returns
  7. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
  8. Gran Turismo 5
  9. NBA 2K11
  10. Wii Fit Plus

NPD's analyst Anita Frazier noted that strong sales of Just Dance 2 and Dance Central resulted in a 38 per cent uplift in the music game genre compared to the same period last year.

On the hardware side, Microsoft was the big winner. The Xbox 360 was up a whopping 68 per cent over November 2009, no doubt spurred on by the release of the Kinect peripheral. However, it couldn't quite beat the DS to the month's top-selling hardware crown.

Here's how the top four lined up:

  1. Nintendo DS: 1.5 Million (-11.8%)
  2. Xbox 360: 1.37 Million (+68%)
  3. Wii: 1.27 Million (+0.8%)
  4. PS3: 530k (-25%)

Of Kinect's performance, Frazier remarked, "The Xbox 360 Kinect was the best-selling accessory item in November. With one month of sales, it's the top-selling accessory item in terms of dollar sales on a year-to-date basis."

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • OriginalSpamcat #1 1 year ago

    Mmm. The header for this article would be a lot more meaningful if we could see the NPD data and time periods for positions 1-6.

  • SeesThroughAll #2 1 year ago

    Elsewhere in the chart, US buyers picked up more copies of Donkey Kong Country Returns than they did Sony's Gran Turismo 5, though had slightly more time to do so. The former was released on 21st November, the latter on 24th November.

    The comparison to DKC probably was made, because it was the only game that came out at a similar time. Most of the best selling games were out earlier.

    I'm guessing that next month, both will still be in the top 10, and at higher ranks.

  • BabyJesus #3 1 year ago

    The big N and MS destroyed sony this month, Sony hardly got a holiday bump atall.

    Things are going to be interesting next year in the US. Sony have an incredibly packed 2011 so they should pick up although the momentum has definitely left them.

    Time for a pricecut.

  • metallicorphan #4 1 year ago

    'Sony have an incredibly packed 2011'

    why what have they got out?,i know about Killzone 3 and Uncharted 3(if that's next year)

    that's a serious question BTW,i am not being a cunt..or at least purposely trying to be one :p

  • mushroomyakuza #5 1 year ago

    Five years delayed, and beaten by Donkey Kong.

    Wow.

  • Skurmedel #6 1 year ago

    Well would you expect DK to not beat GT5? What do you think has the broadest demographic?

  • Jokerrules #7 1 year ago

    " Five years delayed, and beaten by Donkey Kong."

    How exactly did GT 5 have a 5 years delay again? PS 3 only been out for 4 years? You're telling me GT5 was schedule to be out before there's a PS3 on the market?

    American are no longer buying Japanese products (console, games), and if it's a good games they're try to destroy with their bias reviews it so game like Need for Speed can sell...

    This should be awake call for Japanese developers..
    Edited by Jokerrules at 10/12/10 @ 04:58

  • BabyJesus #8 1 year ago

    LBP, InFamous 2 , Motorstorm along with those you mentioned off the top of my head. @metali

    They certainly aren't going to come out of 3rd in the US now but along with a price cut they could atleast become competitive.

  • BabyJesus #9 1 year ago

    Eh@Jokerrules NFS Hot Pursuit is an outstanding game, most fun I've had this year.

  • thedgam #10 1 year ago

    @Metallicaorphan they also got Twisted Metal, Infamous 2, The Last Guardian, Resistance 3, LBP2, Motorstorm Apocalypse and Socom 4 and a new MLB on 2011. It seems to me that everyone is going all out next year. Maybe the next generation of consoles is coming sooner than we think.

  • excelexcel #11 1 year ago

    Surely its a good thing grade A stuff like Donkey Kong Country Returns and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit are doing well!

  • metalmike25 #12 1 year ago

    It's the US we're talking about here, why should we care? Why is it always US and Japan sales on this site. Last time I looked it was called Eurogamer. Maybe next time you could tell us sales figures for the ivory coast??

  • Collymilad #13 1 year ago

    Nice to see NFS selling decently, quality game.

  • Pikmins #14 1 year ago

    ^Im sure they know that as well. Donkey Kong is a great game.

  • toa_boa #15 1 year ago

    Interesting that Fable III come out ahead of GT5 also

  • lockload #16 1 year ago

    Looks like move sold a lot of ps3s lol

  • TRUTH #17 1 year ago

    No matter what Sony do; I think PS3 has last this generation. It's to late to catch up.

  • lockload #18 1 year ago

    @TRUTH

    Sony will sell the ps3 for another 10 years and proclain victory in 2020 way after xbox and wii have moved on to the next console
    Edited by lockload at 10/12/10 @ 07:15

  • karooo #19 1 year ago

    GT5 just 3 days sales 24-27

  • NotSoSlim #20 1 year ago

    [link url=http://www.news10.net/life/entertainment/game-guys/story.aspx?storyid=111239&catid=99
    ]http://www.news10.net/life/entertainment...[/link]

    Those moaning about GT5 sales, anyway PS3 needs a big 2011 in US but price cut will help. 360 plus Kinect was always going to bring a massive boost.

  • berryl227 #21 1 year ago

    Have seen shortages of Gt5 in uk shops and it's was going for over £50 on amazon. Can't be selling that bad at least in the uk.

  • NotSoSlim #22 1 year ago

    Shock horror Multi Plat game ahead of an exclusive

  • barkertron #23 1 year ago

    It's way wide of the mark to use this data as evidence for the PS3's lack of success... the NPD data is for America only, which is Sony's weakest market by far - Xbox is way ahead of Playstation in the US, so I'd definitely expect these kind of figures.

    Sadly there is no NPD equivalent for Europe and Asia (where Sony is the stronger player), so we don't have a decent idea of worldwide stats - you certainly can't extrapolate the NPD figures to see what the state of play is worldwide, though it doesn't stop people from trying.

  • mss99 #24 1 year ago

    Looks like GT5 is the best selling exclusive for the PS3 to date so I don't think you can knock the sales. Hell of a lot more Wii's in America than PS3's so when an iconic figure that appeals to the mass fanbase comes along you expect it to sell well. I have all three systems and I know which game I would rather be playing, and will still be playing in a years time (clue: it doesn't involve monkeys) ;)

  • des #25 1 year ago

    "the NPD data is for America only, which is Sony's weakest market by far"

    Relatively weakest,maybe...
    But in terms of consoles sold,no...it's probably the strongest market

  • kinky_mong #26 1 year ago

    That's what I like to see, one of the best platformers of recent years outselling a turgid racer that took four years to release and still wasn't finished. I hope the UK charts show a similar trend, but I doubt they will.

  • Mkwone #27 1 year ago

    What does it matter if NFS sold more than GT5? Ones a multiformat arcade racer, the others an exclusive with limited appeal, it's not as if either of the respective developers are going to stop marking a sequel or charge the format of the game. Nor is it going to stop the fans of each game enjoying their experiance.
    Edited by Mkwone at 10/12/10 @ 11:01

  • Mr_Brown #28 1 year ago

    I'm glad to see Donkey kong do well, it really does deserve it.

    Sony really have taken a battering though. I like the console but they need to drop the price. I know a few people who would have brought one if the price was lower.

  • chuck_bone #29 1 year ago

    $500m marketing is certainly paying off for MS. I wonder if Sony are regretting not cutting the PS3 price? Kinect has certainly created a HELL of a lot of buzz around the 360, and I have no doubt it will continue into early 2011.

    Is it the next Wii? Doubtful - it's even more limited in what it can do, but it will certainly make the 360 a big seller.

    What Sony need to do next:
    1. Reduce price by a fairly large ammount.
    2. Get some decent exclusives out on time.
    3. market it a bit better!



  • GreyBeard #30 1 year ago

    The big news is that Kinect hasn't cooled off Wii-mania one bit.

  • Cronan #31 1 year ago

    Is 2011 Sony's year now? (don't neg me ladies, I'm just funning)

  • onyxbox #32 1 year ago

    Swings and Roundabouts... Sony last year, MS this year, Sony next year.

    I couldn't care less anymore... I swing both ways and lean a little towards PS3 but unless you have some financial interest in one of these companies doing better than the other.. what's the point?

    Kick back, play games and don't wast energy on fueling this nonsense is what I say.

  • monkeywithnoeyes #33 1 year ago

    very surprising that Fable 3 is ahead of GT5 in the chats... didnt think fable 3 did too well, and would of thought preorders of GT5 alone would be more than enough to eclipse it

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #34 1 year ago

    sony has loads up it's sleeve come the nxt 6 months...exclusives exclusives exclusives exclusives exclusives you can't beat em.

  • MrSpew #35 1 year ago

    DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON: "sony has loads up it's sleeve come the nxt 6 months...exclusives exclusives exclusives exclusives exclusives you can't beat em."

    Except you can - with Donkey Kong! Supposedly THE exclusive game, and it sells.. a few - only to be beaten by Fable and Donkey Kong. Next year will change nothing, just like last year and the year before that. A solid console but nothing fantastic that shifts systems like Tomb Raider, Halo and Mario 64 did.