State of Decay 2 dethrones God of War as May's best-selling game in the U.S.

By Asher Madan
published

State of Decay 2 surprisingly reigns supreme.

Every month The NPD Group compiles a list of the best-selling games in the United States. May 2018 was packed with a number of high-profile releases like State of Decay 2, Detroit: Become Human, Dark Souls Remastered, and Conan Exiles. Detroit: Become Human was arguably the biggest game with the most marketing behind it, but it turns out that State of Decay 2 managed to beat the highly-anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusive. Along with that, it also managed to dethrone God of War for the top spot in the United States.

Mat Piscatella, a video games industry analyst at The NPD Group, revealed this information on Twitter. The fact that State of Decay 2 managed to surpass titles like God of War and Detroit: Become Human is a testament to the game's addictive nature and popularity of the franchise. State of Decay 2 didn't garner great reviews at launch due to its bugs, but that didn't stop it from topping the charts. Plus, it was also available for free through Xbox Game Pass which detracted from sales.

See more

Recently, Microsoft acquired Undead Labs with the intent of making State of Decay 3 even bigger and better. Hopefully the sequel will be a proper "AAA" release with an expansive world and more polish.

For those unfamiliar with the title, State of Decay 2 is a co-op multiplayer game which forces you to survive in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. Players have to work together, build bases, and form communities if they wish to survive in this hostile land. You can purchase the game for $29.99, or play it for free if you're a $9.99 Xbox Game Pass subscriber.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Asher Madan
Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.

42 Comments
  • Good job MS. I mean God of War is ok, but I think it's just an overrated button masher.
  • Finally someone said it. I felt confused by all of the hype.
  • If you think GOW is a button masher, you haven't played it. Or you have played on easy and EVERY game is button masher on easy.
  • Xbox Game Pass downloads aren't counted by The NPD Group.
  • I never played the game it never has really looked impressive..
  • I'm convinced there's a good game in there somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it.
  • I thought the same, but after playing it I really do enjoy it.
  • I already have State of Decay 1, although, I've never played it. Should I do it, or it would be better to go straight to the sequel?
  • I haven't played either, but if the story isn't as important then I don't see why not just play the second one
  • Go straight to the sequel. The story doesn't really transfer over.
  • I have the game, its on my backlog, I like the fact that by the time I jump in fully, patches will have made it better.
  • Patches probably won't make it complete. YOSE actually has new bugs not in SoD 1. For some reason (budgeting, QA, whatever), Undead Labs seem to have the habit of abandoning bug-fixing. I just bought YOSE this week, and it's arguably more buggy than SoD 1 (new bugs). --- New bug in YOSE: The emotional fry pan --- Pan: (shows "broken" status suddenly) Me: Wha? You were just at 3 durability a minute ago! Pan: The next time you smash my face into a zombie's behind, I'm warning ya, things will get ugly. Pan: (shows 3 durability again) Me: I guess zombies aren't so strange anymore.
  • Looks like Game Pass + day 1 PC release is working for MS. No wonder Microsoft rushed out like oh hell yes we are interested in State Of Decay 3 and bought the developer. The game had a modest budget and was still a retail hit. State of Decay 3 will probably look like the Division 2 now. Even though both games are far from perfect it's great for Xbox to have established 2 more hit franchises in State of Decay & Sea of Thieves to join Minecraft, Halo, Gears & Forza. This is why Microsoft prefers multiplayer games.... God of war will have very few players in <6 months... while State of decay & Sea of thieves will have millions.... I still want those single player games Microsoft!!!
  • note: E-Sports makes long term money too. That is why the topic is sooooo hot right now amount Japanese publishers. But they managed to fxxked it up (at some degree)...
  • Are you sure that millions still play SoT? Are you sure that millions are still playing State of Decay 2 now, let alone in 6 months?
  • Sea of Thieves has been absolutely packed every time I've played it since the Hungering Deep, especially with the thrones event. It's a dang good game.
  • Well, that doesn't say there are millions playing it.
    The current number of twitch viewers have dropped massively. Sea of thieves did get a slight peak recently but it's still 89th with around 1100 viewers and State of decay 2 is 193rd with around 300 viewers. I have no doubt there are some players still playing and liking it but I doubt it's anywhere near millions.
  • The amount of people watching on twitch means nothing to me, especially with Sot. That's not the kind of game you'd wana sit and watch. I don't consider that a reliable tool for player counts.
  • @A BabyRed Yoshi
    This game was designed with streaming in mind. That's what people at Rare told us in an interview before launch.
    They also marketed the game with popular streamers, the devs and MS execs like Spencer playing the game at previous E3. And ofc they communicated on twitch numbers and how popular it was on twitch.
    We've even had articles about it here:
    https://www.windowscentral.com/sea-thieves-top-game-twitch-right-now
    Streaming is actually showing popularity. How popular a game is currently and how one fades over time. There is also the silence of MS.
    MS were quick to announce how 2m players tried SoT and SoD 2 at launch.
    But after that nothing. Total silence.
    If they don't communicate it probably means that they aren't proud or happy enough about the numbers to share it with everyone.
    Sometimes silence tells a lot... So either way it's probably not doing millions now let alone 6 months from now.
  • Twitch doesn’t equate to sales or player count.
  • Doesn't matter if you show this guy proof. He'll just change the narrative or reply with some other idiotic comments.
  • @jams_11
    Oh so you have proof of the number of concurrent players on SoT and SoD 2? Please post it here instead of being off-topic...
  • @Asher Madan
    It shows popularity.
    I mean didn't you write an article about it here?
    https://www.windowscentral.com/sea-thieves-top-game-twitch-right-now
    I guess now that the numbers are poor, you won't report it, Asher Madan?
  • I'm happy for the people at Undead Labs. Also nice to see Detroit become human doing well. And also well done PS4 for dominating yet another month... The PS4 is still very popular in the US... It's actually interesting to see how four of the top 5 are exclusive or console exclusives. And it's 9 in the top 15. So much for those who says exclusives don't matter. It's interesting that there are record number of consoles sold in may when these "exclusives" are released...
  • Yup and with the 10+ Microsoft exclusives on the way it's a win-win situation. The problem with your logic is that when multiplat games year after year like COD or Fifa are consistently in the top 10 list for sales on the playstation it kind of makes your exclusive games point irrelevant.
  • 10+ MS exclusives on their way? LOL
    I've already shown you that your list was bs.
    Right now, we know of only 7 upcoming games that are exclusive to MS platform and that was announced.
    1) The yearly Forza Horizon 4 (2018)
    2) Crackdown 3 (2019)
    3) Ori and the will of the wisps (2019)
    4) Next Gears (2019)
    5) Next Halo (????)
    6) Battletoad game (????)
    7) Vigor (????) Even though this could be timed or appear on other platform Unless you have some more, I don't know who you are trying to mislead with your 10+. The point that you still can't understand is that people won't usually buy a new system to play third party games if they already own a system that can play that 3rd party game. If someone wants to play GoW, Detroit or Spider-man he needs to buy a PS4. Simple as that.
  • Yet you're here, damage controlling your beloved console that has all of the awesome exclusives....... ;) Insecure?
  • @remedy378
    LOL I wish I knew what you were talking about, so I could reply you.
    I mean, damage control? belove console? What?? LOL
  • Lol you asked me to list the 10+ MS exclusives on the other article and you called me a liar. I gave you proof and now you are calling BS? What a joke. Stop changing the goal posts. Once you are shown proof you reply with some idiotic comments or you go into hiding. It's ok if you want to go ahead and enjoy your generic jrpg's or cinematic movie games where you wash dishes. Or end up just playing COD or Fifa like most Playstation fanboys do. Though you should know all the multiplats run much better on the Xbox One X. The PS4 Pro is more like a 1440p joke.
  • He does that. He's the only one holding true knowledge. People not on his side is either liar or BS.
    He called me company fan (amount other ones)... G...
  • @jams
    Ah, the classic name-calling when you run out of article.
    It's REALLY simple. You said 11+.
    I helped you by naming 7. Now do find the remaining 4. And don't talk about multiplats and games already released like last time. LOL
    If you can't than it'll just confirmed you made up the 11+. PS: all the other stuff you wrote is generic off-topic bs, so I'll just ignore it. :)
  • So no list? I guess that means you just ran away (as usual)...
  • https://imgpile.com/images/n66Hkx.jpg
    A? B? C? https://imgpile.com/images/n66q4j.jpg
    A? B? C? Nioh was the top1 in UK.
    Hooray!!!
    For a week. Not all exclusives are equal. * Halo, Forza, Gear's E-Sports events are still going.
  • I can't open your image. Just provide links that work if you want me to bother... Also, I'll post the same thing I posted to that other guy. The point that you still can't understand is that people won't usually buy a new system to play third party games if they already own a system that can play that 3rd party game. If someone wants to play GoW, Detroit or Spider-man he needs to buy a PS4. Simple as that.
    Someone won't buy a PS4 to play FIFA if he already owns a XB1. Simple as that. This is common sense people...
  • Is this based on gross revenue? Number of Sales? Physical? Digital? It would be good to know why it's on top.
  • It’s based on revenue.
  • Seriously? Then that is HUGE, you should probably mention that in the article seeing as SoD2 is half the price of the other games. That being said I don't think anyone was actually expecting Detroit to top sales charts, Quantic Dreams are far too much of a niche developer with very targeted game styles.
  • Wait, what???
    What exactly is based on revenue???
  • The list is based on revenue not unit sales. So to sell enough to beat one unit of Detroit or God of War, State of Decay 2 would have to sell two copies at $30 instead of one copy at $60.
  • If someone wants to get a unit count you have to roughly double the count because the game costs less. There’s also a $50 version but the majority of people bought the $30 one.
  • Yeah, truly shocking. YOSE was full-priced abandonware. I'm afraid SoD 2 will become a [B]Premium Abandonware[/B] --- Operation Sick-Me-Out --- Me: Why didn't you use your silenced gun on the bloater? Ally: Cos that would upstage you. Undead Labs gave us a strict policy to make u feel like a hero. Me: So I feel heroic trying to heal all of you from sticking all your fingers into the behind of every bloater out here? Ally: Look, if I wanna stay in this game, I don't ask these kinda questions. You get me?
  • --- New bug in YOSE: The emotional fry pan --- Pan: (shows "broken" status suddenly) Me: Wha? You were just at 3 durability a minute ago! Pan: The next time you smash my face into a zombie's behind, I'm warning ya, things will get ugly. Pan: (shows 3 durability again) Me: I guess zombies aren't so strange anymore.