October 2013 NPD: Grand Theft Auto 5 reigns again

The October 2013 NPD (the last before PS4 and Xbox One release) is an entirely new list of titles, with one lone exception. Grand Theft Auto 5 remains at the top of the list, fending off strong pushes from Pokemon X & Y and Battlefield 4.

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Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 continued its sales dominance, coming in as the best-selling game of October. The remainder of the top 10 are represented by new October releases, led by Pokemon X and Y, which sit back-to-back at the second and third slots. For the third-straight month, retail software sales have increased from the same point a year ago.

The PS3's reign as the top-selling console ends at one whole month, as the Xbox 360 has retaken its spot at the top. Next month will be the first in which the PS4 and Xbox One are added into the fray, which NPD's Liam Callahan hopes will stimulate software sales, as well. "With the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One, we hope to see positive trends over November and December which would lead to an increase in software sales for the year," he said.

Meanwhile, the 3DS remains at the top for overall hardware, for the sixth consecutive month, doubling its sales from last month behind the strength of Pokemon. It's also the highest the handheld has sold since December 2011, when Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were both released. Nintendo handheld will look to maintain its top position when The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (and a new bundle) release later this month.

Here's the chart:

    Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; new releases bolded)

  • Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
  • Pokemon X (3DS)
  • Pokemon Y (3DS)
  • Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, PC)
  • Batman: Arkham Origins (360, PS3, NWU, PC)
  • Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (360, PS3, NWU)
  • NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PC)
  • Skylanders SWAP Force (360, Wii, PS3, NWU, 3DS, Vita, PC)
  • Lego Marvel Superheroes (360, PS3, NWU, 3DS, Vita, PC)
  • WWE 2K14 (360, PS3)

Once again, be mindful that "these sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50 percent of the total consumer spend on games.

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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