Sales of video games and video game hardware remained lackluster in October according to market research giant The NPD Group. Overall industry sales in the U.S. grew just 1% to $1.08 billion last month compared to October 2010. Total hardware sales were up 6% year-over-year to $295.6 million in October, and software sales were up 3% to $621.3 million. Sales of video game accessories in the U.S. dipped 5% to $135.9 million last month. Microsoft’s Xbox showed the most impressive growth among home consoles with unit sales up 20% from last October, while sales of Nintendo’s 3DS/DS line topped portable devices with 25% growth. November numbers should be a bit more impressive ahead of the holidays thanks to holiday sales paired with a number of high-profile launches including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which pulled in a record $400 million in sales during its first 24 hours of availability, and Halo Anniversary, which launches on Tuesday. NPD’s list of the top-10 video game titles follows below.
| Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** | 1 | Electronic Arts |
| Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3)** | 2 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC) | 3 | Take 2 Interactive |
| Rage (360, PS3, PC) | 4 | Bethesda Softworks |
| Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360) | 5 | Ubisoft |
| Dark Souls (PS3, 360)** | 6 | Namco Bandai Games |
| Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)** | 7 | Electronic Arts |
| Forza Motorsport 4 (360)** | 8 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| Gears of War 3 (360)** | 9 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| FIFA Soccer 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, 3DS) | 10 | Electronic Arts |
