The video game industry generated $1.97 billion in revenues in the United States in November, according to industry-tracking firm "The NPD Group." That's down an enormous 24 percent year-over-year from $2.6 billion as consumers didn't have the software options last month that they had in November 2015 despite an abundance of games on the market. Spending on hardware and accessories were also down.
"Pokémon Sun and Moon," influenced by the success of "Pokémon GO," and the nostalgia for the brand owing to its 20th anniversary, have all led to Pokémon Sun and Moon breaking records worldwide. Pokémon Sun and Moon topped the NPD Software Charts in November, meaning they were the highest selling game in the US in the month of November, selling more than Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Watch Dogs 2, or Dishonored 2.
"Pokémon Sun and Moon" ended up selling a combined 2.6 million units in November; this was only over 8 tracked days. This represents the largest debut the series has ever had in North America. NPD's data tracks game sales at physical retailers and some online stores in the U.S. These sales figures include data from the "Xbox Game Store," the "PlayStation Game Store," and Steam, but only certain publishers share their results with the NPD.
"Pokémon Sun and Pokémon: Moon had the strongest launch in the history of the franchise, selling 8 percent more units than the previous best-selling combo of Pokémon: White and Pokémon: Black despite having 19 fewer days in market during the month," as stated by Sam Naji NPD analyst.
Pokémon has always been a big seller, even though all the years when there was a relative lull in its popularity, its sales have never been explosively big right out of the gate, and generally speaking, have been lower than some western AAA franchises such as "Call of Duty" and "Grand Theft Auto" over these last few years.