October 2021 NPD: Metroid Dread Has Best US Launch in Series History, Plus More 2021 Numbers

Well, thanks to the October 2021 NPD, we have great news for Metroid fans as Metroid Dread has officially surpassed other Metroid launches in US history. The franchise has seen better days, and many gamers were starting to see the end of the series. However, with the launch of Metroid Dread and the success that has followed, we may be looking at a lot more Metroid titles in the future, and not just Metroid Prime 4.

Check out the October 2021 NPD chart:

Notice that Metroid Dread is at the Number 3 slot for the entire month across all platforms. That really says something, because as you may know, Metroid Dread has only launched on one console, the Nintendo Switch, while Far Cry 6 and Back 4 Blood have had the advantage of launching across numerous platforms, including the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Windows, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna.

Exclusive titles usually suffer from lower sales due directly to their exclusivity, but when we see titles compete right up there with multi-platform titles, that is a huge win. For Metroid, this is more than a win, as I see this as a full recovery for the franchise.

Metroid Dread is not the only Nintendo title making marks on the October 2021 NPD charts, as we do continue to see Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild all continuing to make great sales even years after some of their releases. Mario Party Superstars also made a grand debut, considering it released late in October and still managed to hit the Number 8 spot across all platforms.

More impressively, both Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World are in the top selling video games of 2021 thus far, and Mario Kart 8 has sold over 40 million units on the Switch alone since it debuted in 2017.

For more information about the October 2021 NPD and more, head on over to Mat Piscatella’s Twitter page, where the Executive Director of The NPD Group has shared even more.

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Thank you for stopping by Nintendo Link for all of your gaming news and updates! What do you think of these numbers and the October sales for Metroid Dread? Are you excited to see all of this? Let us know in the comments below! Happy gaming, everyone.