January 2021 NPD — Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War stays in the lead

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War Screenshot
Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War Screenshot (Image credit: Activision)

What you need to know

  • The January 2021 NPD results have been released.
  • The PS5 was the best-selling console in dollar sales, while the Nintendo Switch was the best-seller in units sold.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the best-selling game of January 2021.

A new year means new sales data to pour through. Thanks to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, we've got details on video game sales for January 2021 in the United States. According to Piscatella's thread, the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of January in units sold, while the PS5 was the best-seller in terms of dollar sales. The PS5 DualSense controller was the best-selling accessory of the month.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War the best-selling game of the month, with it now being the 20th best-selling game ever tracked by NPD. Assassin's Creed Valhalla came in at number #2 and is also the second-fastest selling Assassin's Creed of the series, with the biggest initial launch and most revenue of any game in the franchise.

Here are the January 2021 results:

  • Total sales: $4.71 billion, up 42% year-over-year from $3.32 billion
  • Video game hardware: $319 million, up 144% year-over-year from $131 million
  • Video game content: $4.17 billion, up 36% year-over-year from $3.06 billion
  • Video game accessories: $222 million, up 73% from $128 million

January 2021 NPD Here are the top 20 games sold in the U.S.

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
  2. Assassin's Creed Valhalla
  3. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  4. Madden NFL 21
  5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
  6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  7. Ring Fit Adventure
  8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  10. NBA 2K21
  11. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
  12. FIFA 21
  13. Immortals Fenyx Rising
  14. Mortal Kombat 11
  15. Just Dance 2021
  16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
  17. Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
  18. Cyberpunk 2077*
  19. Super Mario Party*
  20. UFC 4
  • *Digital sales not included

January 2021 NPD Here are the best-selling games of January 2021 by platform:

January 2021 NPD PlayStation platforms

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
  2. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  3. Assassin's Creed Valhalla
  4. Madden NFL 21
  5. Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
  6. Demon's Souls
  7. Ghost of Tsushima
  8. FIFA 21
  9. NBA 2K21*
  10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

January 2021 NPD Xbox platforms

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
  2. Assassin's Creed Valhalla
  3. Madden NFL 21
  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  5. Forza Horizon 4
  6. NBA 2K21*
  7. Cyberpunk 2077
  8. FIFA 21
  9. Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
  10. UFC 4

January 2021 NPD Nintendo platforms

  1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
  2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*
  3. Ring Fit Adventure
  4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  5. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
  6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
  7. Just Dance 2021
  8. Super Mario Party*
  9. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
  10. Super Mario Odyssey*

That's all we've got for this month's report. For more information, be sure to check Piscatella's thread here. You can also check out the December 2020 NPD report here.

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War Reco

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War shakes things up with a campaign that delivers solid mechanical improvements. The multiplayer leaves a lot to be desired but things are improving with patches and now the big Season One content update.

Samuel Tolbert

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on PlayStation on Android Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert