Here Are the Best Selling Games in June (Hint: Duke Wasn't #1)

June, usually a slow period for video games, turned out to be the month when Duke Nukem Forever was finally released, after more than a decade of development and several complete reboots.

The NPD Group has released its monthly sales report for the games industry, bringing word that Duke Nukem Forever will have to be content with the number two spot. L.A. Noire took the top spot.

L.A. Noire sold 419,000 copies over the course of the month, while Duke Nukem Forever sold 376,300, I'm told. It's crucial to note, however, that these numbers do not include digital sales, only physical.

Here's the complete list, sans numbers for the rest of the games:

1. L.A. Noire
2. Duke Nukem Forever
3. inFamous 2
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops
7. NBA 2K11
8. Mortal Kombat
9. Cars 2
10. Just Dance 2

No sign of Alice: Madness Returns or Shadows of the Damned, two games that are definitely worth playing.

So far, only Microsoft has issued a statement on this month's numbers, announcing Xbox 360 outsold all the other hardware platforms and moved an impressive 507,000 units during June.

A sad day for the Duke

Numbers! Feel bad for Gearbox, hopefully they can focus on Borderlands 2 now instead.

HAIL TO THE NUMBER TWO, BABY! DUKE JUST DROPPED A DEUCE ON 'EM.

Once again pleased with Patrick selling people Alice and Shadows. Happy to have LA Noire outsell Duke.

I'm just impressed with the CoD sales. Still killin' it.

HAIL TO THE NUMBER TWO, BABY! DUKE JUST DROPPED A DEUCE ON 'EM.

Can't believe Shadows of the Damned didn't sell well...I heard it only sold 50k. A crying shame.

I keep on getting this thought in the back of my mind that maybe next year Sony and Microsoft will release new consoles. Than I see numbers like 507,000 360s sold in June and realize they don't have to, which in way I like. I want to see the 360 and PS3 go strong until at least 2013.

How is it bad for Duke Nukem Forever? It's a shitty game and yet it was the #2 most sold game in June...

Wow MS sold half a million 360's, impressive for a month with pretty much no games. 

3 million+ copies for Duke Nukem Forever, eh, Pachter? Good job, nailed it.

Sad for Alice and Shadows. I bought both. :(

I bought LA Noire this month, I'm not surprised too much about the results.

Take-Two with both #1 and #2 is nice to see

Man, CoD still killing it. Even if you hate the series you have to be impressed by its ability to never stop selling.

How the fuck did that game manage to get 2nd place?

The fact that it was #2 makes me just as sad.

Can't believe Shadows of the Damned didn't sell well...I heard it only sold 50k. A crying shame.

Also I bought Alice and am sad it did not crack the top ten. Hopefully it has long legs and consistently sells.

NBA 2K11 will not go out of the top 10. Very impressive.

No Fear 3, aww.

@superscott597 said:

@dcgc said:

How is it bad for Duke Nukem Forever? It's a shitty game and yet it was the #2 most sold game in June...

That's what I thought...

They don't hand out prizes for that unfortunately - numbers sold is what counts. It came second in a weak month.

6. Call of Duty: Black Ops

That is kind of nuts.

Fuck! I shouldn't have bet on Duke.

Alice is awesome, one of my favourites already for this year. Really powerful 3rd act. 

@AzHP said:

Can't believe Shadows of the Damned didn't sell well...I heard it only sold 50k. A crying shame.

Be a shame of all those people who would have bought SotD bought DNF instead.   Seems like a similar demographic. Notice FEAR3 isn't on the list, either.  Dirt3 sales were also pretty poor.

It's a shame the EA Partners branch apparently doesn't include advertising. I didn't see commercials for either Alice or Shadow of the Damned. And I've been playing Alice; it's not good. It's extremely repetitive. The combat is one-note, as is the platforming. After two worlds, they completely run out of tricks. It's like the Dynasty Warriors of platformers. It's a shame. I have also heard conflicting things about Shadows. It reviewed well enough, but considering this is a team up of the guys who did No More Heroes and Vanquish separately, which are two genuinely amazing games, as well as the guy who scored Silent Hill, it seems to be a disappointment to fans.
 
I'm happy Duke Nukem is selling though. That game got unfairly bashed for a lot of crap that a lot of other, less fun, FPS do. Although it is pretty hideous. But fun trumps ...muddy/slimy visuals, cheap looking assets and an awful color palette.

duke nukem selling more than infamous depresses me

The Duke CRUSHED la noire. Those don't include digital sales numbers. Hail to the King, baby.

@SugarRay: That's because it is one of the best sports games of all time. It deserves it.

Once again, not only do those numbers not include digital sales, they don't include ANY sales outside the US! I really wish more stories would mention this. There are other places in the world that buy games.

I'm glad NBA 2K11 landed in the top ten.  It's one of my all-time favourites :D.

@GohanEgret said:

@Jimbo: He revised his numbers to half that, NPD can't account for all PC sales, and his numbers could be worldwide instead of just North America.

He didn't have much choice but to revise his numbers down massively did he? He was fucking miles off. If you stood on the spot of his insanely optimistic original estimate and looked toward the actual sales, all you would see is a barely visible speck on the horizon - that's how far off he was.

The unaccounted for PC sales will hardly be worth mentioning and the non-US market will be what? It's a dumb FPS not a Settlers game; I suspect even adding 50% on top of the US numbers would be optimistic. If this gets to a million actual sales it's gonna limp there at about $5 a copy.

Go watch the Pach Attack where he tears somebody apart for suggesting DNF won't sell very well, it's pretty amusing.

Those are some holiday type numbers for the 360.

Once again, not only do those numbers not include digital sales, they don't include ANY sales outside the US! I really wish more stories would mention this. There are other places in the world that buy games.

@AndrewB said:

The fact that it was #2 makes me just as sad.

I don't know... a game finally being released after 14-some years only debuting at number 2? Or maybe that's what you mean.

you ever think about how crazy video game sales are? 500k is ridiculous for a $60 product.

I'm slightly disgusted that Cars 2 is on that list.

... People bought Duke Nukem more than infamous two? SHAME... omg SHAME!!! 

I intend to play both SotD and Alice someday, but haven't bought either yet.

@weeman105 said:

I'm slightly disgusted that Cars 2 is on that list.

Cars 2 is a quality game.

All that hype led to a serious downfall.

I bought Shadows of the Damned, and I'm very happy with my purchase.

@AndrewB said:

The fact that it was #2 makes me just as sad.

I don't know... a game finally being released after 14-some years only debuting at number 2? Or maybe that's what you mean.

mortal kombat still hanging in there