MLB The Show 21 was April’s bestselling game despite launching on Xbox Game Pass

By Joseph Yaden May 27, 2021

MLB The Show 21 was the bestselling game in the United States during April and set a “new franchise high” in terms of launch month dollar sales. This is notable, as MLB The Show 21 is the first game in the series to appear on the Xbox ecosystem, following 15 years of exclusivity on PlayStation platforms.

The news comes by way of Mat Piscatella of the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Piscatella said MLB The Show 21 not only debuted as the month’s bestselling game, but is now the third-bestselling game of 2021 year to date.

US NPD SW – April 2021 Top 20 Sellers pic.twitter.com/QsHmpjzfaO

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 27, 2021

The release of MLB The Show is historic, because it debuted on an Xbox platform, Xbox Game Pass, the same day it was released. Titles downloaded via Game Pass aren’t counted in monthly reports since they aren’t actual sales. Despite this, The Show 21 still managed to become the month’s bestseller, and the second-bestselling game on Xbox platforms, including Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

If you count digital sales and those downloaded through Game Pass, MLB The Show 21 reached a wider audience than ever before. This shows the decision to release the game on other platforms has been a lucrative one for MLB and San Diego Studio.

While the series from Sony-owned San Diego Studio still remains a first-party PlayStation franchise, it will be multiplatform going forward.

Elsewhere in the NPD report, we received word that New Pokémon Snap debuted as the third-bestselling game of the month, Mortal Kombat 11 jumped up to the sixth spot due to the recent release of the new film in the franchise, and Returnal launched as April’s eighth-bestselling game. Hardware sales for the month fell 30% when compared to April of last year, but year to date, hardware sales for 2021 climbed 42% compared to the first four months of 2020.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…

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