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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Tops US Sales Charts for November 2020

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War_01

Despite so many big releases last month, Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War soared to the top of software sales charts. The NPD Group's Mat Piscatella told VentureBeat that not only was the best-selling game for November 2020 but also of 2020 year-to-date. "Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War represents 2020's biggest launch. The title ranks first on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms for the month of November, as well as year to date.

"This is the 13th consecutive year a Call of Duty game has ranked as the best-selling game of its release month." Assassin's Creed Valhalla didn't fall too far behind though. It was the second best-selling game of last month and the seventh best-selling title year-to-date. While it set a new record for first week launch sales as per Ubisoft, Piscatella confirms that it also had the highest launch month sales for the franchise since Assassin's Creed 3 released in 2012.

In third place was Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales with launch month sales being the highest for superhero games on PlayStation platforms in the history of the US. It also ranked second for PlayStation, only trailing behind Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Check out The NPD Group's top ten best-selling titles of November 2020, with digital sales omitted for specific companies.

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
  2. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  3. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  4. Madden NFL 21
  5. NBA 2K21*
  6. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity*
  7. Watch Dogs: Legion
  8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  9. FIFA 21
  10. Demon's Souls

PS5 Sets New Record for Console Launch Month Spending in US

ps5

The NPD Group's November 2020 report is now available and while the Nintendo Switch led in terms of units sold, it was the PS5 that came out on top in terms of consumer spending. Unit and dollars for the console were actually the highest for any video game hardware in the history of the US. It's unseated the PS4, which set the record back in November 2013 as per analyst Mat Piscatella while speaking to VentureBeat.

Overall, consumer spending hit $1.4 billion on new hardware, which is an increase of 58 percent compared to a year ago. Year-to-date hardware spending hit $4 billion which is 34 percent higher than the same period last year. Once again, this is off the back of the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 launches.

The PS5 has done phenomenally well in the United Kingdom as well, with launch sales in the first 48 hours reportedly "far exceeding" the PS4's 250,000 units sold in 2013. In terms of upcoming release, Sony has confirmed that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will be releasing in early 2021 while Returnal was recently given a release date of March 19th 2021. Stay tuned for more details on the same in the coming months.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Season 3 Will Have 7 New Levels, Over 30 New Skins

fall guys

Mediatonic debuted the latest trailer for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout recently, showcasing Season 3: Winter Knockout, but it was somewhat lacking in gameplay. Don't worry though because there are plenty more reveals coming up. The developer tweeted that there would be seven new levels added along with more than 30 new skins.

It also teased "many more festive surprises" that were yet to be revealed. Some of that new content will be showcased via IGN so expect new gameplay footage. Then again, it's not like we'll have long to wait – Fall Guys Season 3 starts on December 15th after all.

Thus far, we've seen reindeer, snowman and penguin skins ringing in the holiday cheer. What else could be in store? Stay tuned for more details in the coming days. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is currently available for PS4 and PC – check out our review here for more details. Though it missed out on winning the Best Multiplayer Game Award, it's still sold over 11 million copies on PC thus far.

Just Dance: Mobile Coming in 2021 for iOS, Android

Just Cause Mobile

Just Cause is coming to mobile devices next year in the succinctly named Just Cause: Mobile. Announced at The Game Awards, it's a free to play shooter with online co-op and competitive modes. Players can create their own character and partake in a new story campaign while teaming with characters from previous titles.

Co-op missions are a separate feature and involve playing with up to three other players for battling waves of enemies including tanks and mechs. Triple Threat is a 30 person mode with three teams of 10 players battling on a huge map with vehicles to secure bases. Finally, there's Challenge Mode which provides Destruction, Wingsuit and Racing challenges for getting the best scores.

Of course, all of the essential gameplay elements of Just Cause – like grappling, gliding, shooting and a large open world – will also be present. Check out the trailer below to see the game in action. Stay tuned for more details on a release date and potential closed beta in the future.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Sephiroth Details Coming on December 17th

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Sephiroth

One of the biggest surprises of The Game Awards 2020 and which immediately kicked off the show was Sephiroth. Not just Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 but Sephiroth as the next DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He's coming later this month but, as usual, we won't have to wait long for more details.

The Nintendo of America Twitter confirmed a new "Mr. Sakurai Presents" presentation for December 17th at 2 PM PT where the game's director will break down the fighter's mechanics. A release date will also be provided, which we only assume to be a week afterwards. Overall, Christmas is looking pretty good for Smash Bros. fans.

Along with Sephiroth, the new Challenger Pack will also include a new stage – which replicates the final battle from Final Fantasy 7 – and new music. It's also likely that we'll be seeing some new Mii Fighter costumes to accompany this release. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Genshin Impact Update 1.2 Trailer Reveals Albedo and Ganyu, New Locations and Foes

Genshin Impact Update 1.2

In its recent reveal stream, miHoYo Games unveiled the first trailer for Genshin Impact's update 1.2. It's out on December 23rd for all platforms and features two new characters – Albedo and Ganyu – along with the third region, Dragonspine. Check out The Chalk Prince and The Dragon below.

Albedo is essentially an alchemist who serves as Sucrose's superior (hence her presence in the trailer). Along with using one-handed swords, he's a 5 star Geo wielder. Ganyu is also a 5 star character who uses bows and Cryo attacks. She'll be added in mid-January 2021. Along with new characters, there are also four new weapons to obtain like the Festering Desire sword.

Dragonspine itself presents numerous new challenges and bosses to battle along with substantial story content. Quality-of-life features like farming Domains without having to leave and re-enter and chatting with friends outside of the main game are also coming with this update. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Cyberpunk 2077's 2058 Quadra Turbo-R V-TECH Is Now In Forza Horizon 4

Cyberpunk 2077

As I'm sure you're aware, Cyberpunk 2077 finally released this week after the better part of a decade of being hyped, and it seems to have done pretty well for itself. Being as big as a game it is, crossovers with other franchises are, of course, inevitable. Now it seems the game has a bit of the racing bug with Forza Horizon 4.

One of the more prominent vehicles in 2077 is the slick 2058 Quadra Turbo-R V-TECH. As announced at The Game Awards 2020, the car will come to Microsoft and Playground Games' racing title, which just got a recent update all about track building. You can see the trailer below, which shows the car flying around in all its futuristic glory.

Forza Horizon 4 is available now on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. The Quadra is available for free as of today for all platforms Cyberpunk 2077 is available on those same platforms as well as PS4 and Stadia.

Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection Comes To Nintendo Switch February 25 2021

Switch_GnG-Resurrection_01

One of the original tough as nails video games was Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins. The game saw you fight through the undead as kindly knight Arthur against legions of various monsters. The series has continued on in some form or another with sequels, such as Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and a variety of remakes through the years. Now it's time for Arthur to suit up once more.

As announced at The Game Awards 2020, a new entry in the franchise will come early next year as Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection. The game is referred to as a reboot and includes a new storybook-like look and presentation. It also seems to tease that the game will keep true to its roots with some brutal looking difficulty as you fight through the hordes of familiar enemies. You can see the reveal trailer, in full, below.

Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection will release exclusively on Nintendo Switch February 25th, 2021.

NieR Re[in]carnation Delayed To 2021

NieR Reincarnation

Last night at the 2020 edition of The Game Awards we got a new look at the remake of NieR Replicant (I refuse to say the full name) that showed how much the first game in the franchise has been redone. It's not the only game in the franchise that is coming, though, as the mobile title NieR Re[in]carnation is also still slated to come. As you may have suspected, though, it won't make this year.

On the official Japanese Twitter, it was announced that the game would be pushed back into early 2021. Alongside the message was a cute illustration for fans as an apology.

Re[in]carnation has been confirmed to be coming to the west, but was set to release this year in Japan. We still don't know a lot about the game, only having seen bits and pieces scattered about. For a long time it was thought the game was just a runner until it was revealed to have some type of combat system. We'll just have to wait and see what it looks like when it releases next year.

Evil Dead: The Game is Coming to Consoles and PC in 2021

evil dead the game

Evil Dead's very name attracts the masses, and fans of the property have been hoping to see Bruce Campbell's character, Ash Williams, properly used in a game for some time now. Though Campbell himself has denied rumours of Ash Williams coming to Mortal Kombat 11, he has previously also indicated that there is an Evil Date game coming soon. 

At the recent The Game Awards show, it was announced that Saber Interactive – who also made World War Z not too long ago – is developing Evil Dead: The Game. It will be a four player co-op affair, and include mechanics such as managing your feat, crafting, loot, over two dozen weapons, and more. Check out its announcement trailer below. 

Evil Dead: The Game will release some time in 2021 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A more specific launch date (or window) hasn't yet been announced, so stay tuned for when that information becomes available.