Capcom saved the day for US retailers last month. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was the best selling game of January 2017 in the US market according to NPD Group, this in spite of only having five days in stores. Up until those last five days, January sales were looking very bleak.
Total spending on video games, hardware and peripherals fell 6% compared to January, 2016 to $610.7 million. Hardware was mainly to blame, as revenue was down 19%. PS4 was the best selling console, while Microsoft claims that Xbox One enjoyed its best January in the console's history. It is also important to note that NES Classic Mini outsold the Wii U. The problem is not that people don't buy systems, it's that the prices have fallen since last year.
Console software sales climbed 19%, but PC games were 12% lower than last January. "This was due in large part to the stronger comparison this January with the release of Capcom's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard", said NPD analyst Sam Naji to Venture Beat. "The last time Capcom had the best-selling game of the month, in dollar sales, was in March 2009 with Resident Evil 5", he added.
The 10 best selling games of January 2017 (US):
1. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
2. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Battlefield 1
5. NBA 2K17
6. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
7. Madden NFL 17
8. Watch Dogs 2
9. Overwatch*
10. FIFA 17
*Does not include Battle.net sales.