March NPD 2018: Far Cry 5 debuts as the top-selling game of the year

The game industry generated $1.32 billion in March, down 11 percent year-over-year. However, game consumers have still dropped more cash in 2018 than 2017 so far — sales have hit $3.41 billion, up 15 percent year-over-year from $2.98 billion, according to the industry-tracking firm The NPD Group.

March didn’t see many blockbuster releases, as compared to 2017 when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands debuted. But it did witness the rise of 2018’s new bestseller: Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5. Players have said yes to the latest installment in the open-world series, which became the fastest-selling title in the franchise and generated $310 million in its first week.