Madden NFL 21 extends franchise’s 21-year bestseller streak

Another year, another chart-topping launch for the Madden NFL franchise.

Madden NFL 21

But Madden NFL 21 wasn’t the only EA Sports hit last month. The studio’s other August launch,

UFC 4

Activision’s

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

All told, Americans bought $2.9 billion in video game software and associated content, like DLC, last month. That was up from the $2.1 billion spent last August.

NPD’s data looks at both physical and digital sales across the U.S. The company collects the information on video game consoles, games, and accessories and reports its findings each month.

Although the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will launch in November, gamers didn’t show any signs of slowing their hardware spending last month, either. They spent $229 million on game hardware in August, up 37% compared to the $167 million they spent in August 2019. Nintendo’s Switch led the hardware charge last month and secured a record-breaking August. NPD didn’t say how many Switch units Nintendo sold last month but said sales more than doubled last August’s tally.

It was a similarly strong month for accessories, NPD reported on Monday. American consumers spent $166 million on accessories, including controllers, steering wheels, and headsets, last month, a 42% gain over the same period last year.

Sony’s DualShock 4 Wireless Controller