The NPD Group rolled out the September, 2017 retail sales data. Numbers were not made available for the variety of games that were featured on the list, but we did find out where Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite landed on the top 10 chart. It landed on the sixth spot just ahead of Grand Theft Auto V and just behind Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, as reported by EventHubs.

Quite naturally, a lot of people were trying to figure out exactly where what “no. 6” means in the grand scheme of the sales data? For instance, being the number one selling game on a console no one bought isn’t much of an achievement, just the same as ranking sixth on a top 10 chart where the top selling game was still down 50% in retail sales compared to its predecessor that came out three years ago isn’t much of an achievement.

In the case of Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite, there’s a growing sense of wariness and concern among gamers that sales may not be as noteworthy as that sixth place looks on the NPD charts. In fact, EVO head honcho, Joey Cuellar, noted that the game tanked but didn’t provide much context beyond that.

I have the numbers, it tanked hard.

— Joey Cuellar (@MrWiz) October 24, 2017

Saying he has the numbers and that it tanked might seem like a lot of grandstanding and posturing, but the reality is that the surrounding sales data seems to coincide with Cuellar’s brief albeit telling tweet.

During the first month of release we reported how the digital sales data did not paint a good picture for Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite on the PlayStation Network nor on the Steam charts. In fact, the game – as of the writing of this article – has only moved 36,000 copies on Steam, according to Steam Spy.

The sales data in other territories doesn’t look much better. Back in September Metro reported that Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite was tracking like a flopping fish out of water on the GfK Chart-Track for the U.K., regional sales. In fact, according to Metro, Ultra Street Fighter II on the Nintendo Switch had a better debut in the U.K., than Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite did on multiple platforms.

In Japan the game did even worse, only managing to make the Media Create’s top 20 during the first week of its release. It managed the eighth spot according to PlayStation LifeStyle.

In the following week Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite didn’t even manage to crack Media Create’s top 20, according to Gematsu. Even more embarrassing for Capcom is that in the following week – between October 2nd and October 8th – the re-release of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen on the PS4 managed to crack the top 20 and secure the seventh spot. Yes, Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite couldn’t even make the top 20, but a re-release of a five-year-old game managed to top the charts.

In fact, the game was so unappealing to the Japanese that it didn’t even make the cut for the inaugural EVO Japan event for 2018.

The game has continued to fall down the charts or just not track at all on the top 10s or top 20s outside of North America.

The idea that the game made the sixth spot for the NPD Group’s chart for September likely means that everything else sold poorly enough for Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite to secure the position. We’ll see how well it holds up when the NPD numbers for October become available next month in November. However, if the slumping sales trend continues to follow the game around like a dirty diaper on a crying child, then it may not make the NPD’s top 10 for October.

(Thanks for the news tip Ebicentre)