Black Ops Cold War and Super Mario 3D World are the US best-selling games of 2021 so far

The top-selling games of the year in the US are about covert ops and walking mushrooms, according to an industry analyst firm.

The NPD Group released its latest roundup of games industry sales data, accounting for sales both through physical retail and digital channels - except for Nintendo, which keeps its eShop data to itself. Since the end of March also marked the end of the first quarter of 2021, it's a prudent time to look back and see what games have seen the most commercial success so far. Here's the list of the top 10 selling games in the US from January 1 to March 31.
Best-selling games of 2021 so far

    Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
    Super Mario 3D World
    Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
    Monster Hunter: Rise
    Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
    Mario Kart 8
    Minecraft
    Madden NFL 21
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    Outriders

You're not alone if you feel like we've been in a bit of a drought for big games recently. Only three of the top-selling games for the year so far - Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Monster Hunter: Rise, and Outriders - actually came out in 2021. Now here's what sold the best in March specifically.

Best-selling games of March 2021

    Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
    Monster Hunter: Rise
    Outriders
    Super Mario 3D World
    Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
    Mario Kart 8
    Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    Super Mario 3D All-Stars
    Minecraft

According to The NPD Group's data, Outriders came in at third place on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms. People Can Fly's new loot shooter debuted on Xbox Game Pass, but it seems like subscribers being able to play for free didn't cut into standard sales as much as you might expect.
The top-selling games of the year in the US are about covert ops and walking mushrooms, according to an industry analyst firm.

The NPD Group released its latest roundup of games industry sales data, accounting for sales both through physical retail and digital channels - except for Nintendo, which keeps its eShop data to itself. Since the end of March also marked the end of the first quarter of 2021, it's a prudent time to look back and see what games have seen the most commercial success so far. Here's the list of the top 10 selling games in the US from January 1 to March 31.
Best-selling games of 2021 so far

    Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
    Super Mario 3D World
    Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
    Monster Hunter: Rise
    Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
    Mario Kart 8
    Minecraft
    Madden NFL 21
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    Outriders

You're not alone if you feel like we've been in a bit of a drought for big games recently. Only three of the top-selling games for the year so far - Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Monster Hunter: Rise, and Outriders - actually came out in 2021. Now here's what sold the best in March specifically.

Best-selling games of March 2021

    Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
    Monster Hunter: Rise
    Outriders
    Super Mario 3D World
    Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales