How Many Copies of NHL 20 Were Sold?

The answer may surprise you.

Introduction

It is no secret that NHL 20, the latest installment in the long-running hockey video game franchise, was a highly anticipated release. The game promised to bring several new features to the series, including a revised Career Mode, an all-new Be a Pro Mode, and an expansive new Creation Suite. Critics and fans alike were eager to get their hands on the game, and it seems that their excitement was justified – NHL 20 sold quite well upon its release.

In fact, according to EA Sports, NHL 20 was the best-selling hockey video game of all time. It outpaced the sales of its predecessor, NHL 19, by a significant margin, and it also became the best-selling sports game of 2019 so far. All in all, it seems like EA Sports hit a home run with NHL 20 – but just how many copies of the game were actually sold?

NHL 20 Sales Figures

According to the NPD group, NHL 20 sales figures show that the game sold 1.65 million copies in the United States and Canada in its first month. The game was released on September 13th, 2019, so these sales figures cover the month of September. This is a significant increase from the 1.23 million copies that NHL 19 sold in its first month.

Overall Sales

NHL 20 sales figures for the U.S. show that the game sold 176,526 copies in its first week on sale. This is slightly below the launch week sales of NHL 19, which sold 182,815 copies in its first week. NHL 18 was the best-selling game in the series so far, with launch week sales of 209,122 copies.

Platform Sales

NHL 20 sold the most units on PlayStation 4, with Microsoft’s Xbox One platform coming in second.The Nintendo Switch enter the top three for the first time this generation.

-PlayStation 4 – 1.65 million copies
-Xbox One – 1.21 million copies
-Nintendo Switch – 0.85 million copies

Reasons for Low Sales

One reason for the low sales of NHL 20 could be that the game does not offer anything new or innovative. Another reason could be that the game is simply not as good as the previous year’s game. Lastly, the current economic climate could be a factor, as people may be more hesitant to spend money on discretionary items like video games.

Lack of Innovation

Lack of innovation has been blamed as one of the primary reasons for the decline in sales of the NHL video game franchise. The series has not seen a major overhaul in years, and many fans feel like it is starting to show its age. The developers have been milking the same formula for too long, and it is starting to become stale.

Poor Marketing

It’s no secret that the sales of the NHL 20 video game have been quite abysmal since it was released in September 2019. According to Forbes, the game “sold just half as much as its predecessor in its first month and declined a stunning 60% year-over-year in its second month.”

Now, there are many factors that likely contributed to the low sales of NHL 20, but one of the biggest appears to be poor marketing. For starters, EA Sports didn’t even bother to have a presence at the NHL Entry Draft in June 2019 – arguably one of the most important events for hockey fans.

To make matters worse, EA Sports released a trailer for NHL 20 that was widely panned by fans for being “generic” and “uninspired.” This, combined with the fact that many gamers felt like NHL 19 was simply a re-skin of the previous game, likely led to a lot of potential customers opting to not purchase NHL 20.

At the end of the day, poor marketing appears to be one of the key reasons why NHL 20 has been such a flop thus far.

Conclusion

NHL 20 was the ninth best-selling game of September 2019 and the fourth best-selling game on the PlayStation 4, according to The NPD Group. Compared to other sports games released in 2019, NHL 20 was outsold by Madden NFL 20, NBA 2K20, FIFA 20, and MLB The Show 19. In terms of physical sales, NHL 20 was the fifth best-selling game on the PlayStation 4 in September 2019.