None of October's New Games Outsold Middle Earth: Shadow of War

The NPD Group has released the sales figures for video games sold in the month of October. As you might recall, October was pretty much this year's de facto "biggest month" for video games as it saw the release of Super Mario Odyssey, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, Assassin's Creed Origins. Yet none of those games were the best-selling titles of October. Instead it was Middle Earth: Shadow of War.

To be fair, Assassin's Creed Origins, Super Mario Odyssey, and Wolfenstein 2 all came out towards the end of the month, on October 27. That gave each title five days to become the best-selling game of October. Still that doesn't diminish that Shadow of War was an outstanding success for WB Games, even after the loot box controversy that dogged Shadow of War's release. It begs to wonder whether the current controversy over Star Wars Battlefront 2 will impact sales of the game.

As for hardware, October was another growth year with spending on consoles driven by the Nintendo Switch and the SNES Classic. While the Switch was the best selling console of October, the PlayStation 4 is still the best selling console of the year so far.

Here is the full breakdown of sales for October according to the NPD Group

October 2017 Top 20 Games

• Middle Earth: Shadow of War
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Super Mario Odyssey**
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• NBA 2K18
• FIFA 18
• WWE 2K18
• Madden NFL 18
• Destiny 2^
• Forza Motorposrt 7
• Gran Turismo Sport
• Grand Theft Auto V
• The Evil Within 2**
• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus**
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
• Mario Kart 8**
• Fire Emblem: Warriors**
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
• NHL 18
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege

Xbox One Top 10 Games

• Middle Earth: Shadow of War
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Forza Motorsport 7
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• NBA 2K18
• FIFA 18
• Destiny 2
• WWE 2K18
• Madden NFL 18
• Grand Theft Auto V

PlayStation 4 Top 10 Games

• Middle Earth: Shadow of War
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• NBA 2K18
• FIFA 18
• Gran Turismo Sport
• WWE 2K18
• Madden NFL 18
• Destiny 2
• The Evil Within 2**

Nintendo Switch** Top 10 Games

• Super Mario Odyssey
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Mario Kart 8
• Fire Emblem: Warriors
• Pokken Tournament DX
• Splatoon 2
• Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• FIFA 18
• NBA 2K18
• Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2

Nintendo 3DS** Top 10 Games

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• Miitopia
• Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth
• Pokemon: Sun
• Fire Emblem: Warriors
• Super Smash Bros.
• Mario Kart 7
• Super Mario Maker
• Layton's Mystery Journey Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy

Top 10 Best Selling Games of the Year So Far

• Destiny 2^
• NBA 2K18
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
• Madden NFL 18
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
• Grand Theft Auto V
• For Honor
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Injustice 2
• Mario Kart 8

**No Digital Sales Included

^Battle.net sales not included

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Shadow of War released in September. That was for a mobile tie-in. The article has been updated with this correction.