We all saw this one coming, but sure, let’s talk about it anyway. NPD Group Executive Director & Video Game Industry Advisor Mat Piscatella has shared the US video game software and hardware sales data for November 2021 (with Nintendo Switch selling awesomely as usual). That NPD data reveals that Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT5) had the “highest launch month dollar sales” in the US of any SMT game in franchise history, in addition to being the sixth bestselling Nintendo Switch game of November 2021 and the 16th bestselling game of the month overall. Notably, digital launch sales of Shin Megami Tensei V are not included in this calculation, and digital sales of first-party Nintendo games are not factored into the sales rankings either.
US NPD SW – Shin Megani Tensei V achieved the highest launch month dollar sales of any Shin Megami Tensei title in history. Shin Megami Tensei V ranked as the 16th best-selling game of November 2021 while also ranking 6th on Nintendo platforms.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) December 13, 2021
Being a long-hyped Atlus RPG on a fantastically popular console, Shin Megami Tensei V was frankly expected to perform this well in its US launch sales all along. It would have been a startling and tremendous defeat if it couldn’t surpass the launch sales of the Nintendo 3DS entries or either version of Shin Megami Tensei III, even though SMT5 digital sales have not even been factored in. Of course, SMT and Persona (and probably even the other sub-franchises) are being treated as separate entities here; it’s almost inconceivable that Shin Megami Tensei V could have sold better than Persona 5 at launch, considering the monster hype surrounding that particular release. Nevertheless, this NPD data agrees with great launch sales data from Japan and from the UK.
If you’ve just started playing SMT5 or plan to receive it for Christmas, be sure to check out our beginner tips guide and other guides to ensure a less stressful experience getting started.
[Source]
