Tales Of Arise breaks series records, Madden NFL 22 2nd highest-selling game of 2021 - NPD

Madden NFL 22 and Tales of Arise lead the charge in this month's NPD report, with both games making an impressive dent on an industry that continues to grow year-on-year.

First off, though, let's look at the hardware figures – which themselves are quite impressive. As per the report, shared as ever by The NPD Group's Mat Piscatella, hardware was the primary driving factor in September's gaming spend, with a massive 49% increase compared to the same period last year.

It looks like we've mostly got the PS5 to thank for that, with Sony's current-gen console beating out the Nintendo Switch in both dollars and units in September, making it the best-selling console this year (if you're looking at dollar value alone). This was also the first time in 18 months that another console claimed more hardware unit sales than the Nintendo Switch, thanks to Sony's strong PS5 sales. Don't expet the same in October now that the Switch OLED is out, though.

As with last month, Madden NFL 2022 continues to impress: EA's annual version of the American Football game has once again been crowned best-selling game of the month, which makes it the 2nd best-selling game of 2021 so far. You can thank Madden NFL 22's dominance on both PlayStation and Xbox for that.

Despite a lot of recent controversy and some questions about the future of the franchise, FIFA 22 has performed very well, too, coming in at the number two spot and making it a sports triple-header with NBA 2K22 in third.

Bandai Namco has something to celebrate, too; the Tales Of series seems to be breaking through a little more into the mainstream, with Tales Of Arise setting a new record for most money made duirng the release window of any Tales Of game. It's also the fourth best-selling game of September 2021, and with our own Alex Donaldson saying Tales of Arise is one of the best JRPGs in years, we can see why.

Life is Strange: True Colors launched as September's 10th best-selling game. Life is Strange: True Colors generated the highest launch month dollar sales for any Life is Strange title to date; it may not have ranked that high, then, but it's a high tide-mark for the series so far.

When it comes to mobile, Genshin Impact is certainly pulling its weight: spending is up nearly 120% month-over-month in the game (largely thanks to its one-year anniversary event). You can read more about how to make the most of your time in Genshin Impact here.