Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Tops Games Sales in 2016

By Boston Blake 23 January 2017

Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare tops the charts as the best-selling game of 2016, beating out fellow shooters Battlefield 1 and Overwatch.

As 2016 came to a close, game developers and console makers made their final pushes for the remaining December holiday sales. After losing out to Xbox One four months in a row, PlayStation 4 bounced back to nab both November and December as the best selling console.

Now, it’s been revealed by NPD industry sales trackers (via Game Informer) that Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the best selling game for December and for 2016 as a whole. The video game industry as a whole generated $30.4 billion in the U.S., up from $30.3 billion in 2015.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare beat out fellow shooter Battlefield 1, which was highly acclaimed by both gamers and critics alike, and considered by many as the leading contender to dethrone Call of Duty. Unfortunately for EA and DICE that was not to be, as Call of Duty claimed the top spot for best selling game of the year.

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Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which was the best selling title of 2015, also made an appearance in this year’s top 10 best selling games, snagging the 8th spot right behind Overwatch and ahead of FIFA 17 and Final Fantasy 15.

Tom Clancy’s The Division, NBA 2K17, and Madden NFL 17 rounded out the top five games sold during the year. The Division experienced a stellar start, breaking records for Ubisoft and becoming the publisher’s best-selling new IP. The third-person shooter experienced numerous struggles over the summer, losing much of its player base, but bounced back in November with a big update and new expansion.

Overwatch performed well, both with gamers and critics, becoming one of the most highly-praised shooters in recent memory, and the game easily gained the top spot among Game Rant’s Top 10 Games of 2016. It’s important to note that Overwatch’s placement in the NPD Top 10 rankings does not include sales from battle.net, so it’s entirely possibly the game outperformed others ahead of it on the list.

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Impressively, Grand Theft Auto 5 found itself on the list for the fourth straight year. Despite releasing in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to generate massive sales, often claiming a top spot in monthly game sales. Rockstar continues to release new updates for the game’s online mode, giving gamers plenty of reasons to purchase the title and check back often for the latest additions.

The full list of NPD’s top 10 best selling games of 2016 is below:

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Battlefield 1
The Division
NBA 2K17
Madden NFL 17
Grand Theft Auto 5
Overwatch (not including sales from battle.net)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
FIFA 17
Final Fantasy 15

What do you think about Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare position as the best selling game of 2016?