January 2025 was a relatively quiet month for video game releases, with only one new title, Donkey Kong Country: Returns on Nintendo Switch, making it into the top 20 best-sellers. However, the month was marked by the notable performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which once again topped the charts, followed closely by Madden NFL 25. Amidst this, a potential comeback story emerged with Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, which had been considered a sales disappointment in 2024.
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth initially launched in February 2024, debuting at No.2 on Circana's charts, which rank video games by dollar sales in the U.S. However, its sales declined over the year, finishing at No.17. Square Enix had expressed that the game did not meet their sales expectations, and no specific sales figures were released. The game's initial exclusivity to the PS5 likely contributed to its sales challenges, as platform exclusives often struggle to match the sales of cross-platform releases.
The narrative shifted in January 2025 when Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth was released on Steam, breaking its exclusivity. This move propelled the game from No.56 in December to No.3 on the Circana charts for January. The Final Fantasy 7: Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack also saw a significant rise, moving from No.265 to No.16. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted the game's "fantastic" Steam launch, noting it was the best-selling game of the week ending January 25th in the U.S. market based on dollar sales.
This success on Steam suggests that a PC launch can significantly boost a game's sales, potentially influencing Square Enix's strategy for future Final Fantasy releases. Piscatella commented that releasing on PC makes sense regardless of genre or historical release strategies, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for third-party publishers to justify platform exclusivity without substantial incentives from the platform holder.
The industry will be watching Square Enix's next earnings call in May to see how they respond to these developments.
Elsewhere in the charts, It Takes Two re-entered the top 20 at No.20, driven by steady sales and promotional efforts ahead of Hazelight Studios' upcoming game, Split Fiction, set to release in March.
Overall, January 2025 saw a decline in gaming spending compared to the previous year. The tracking period for January 2025 was four weeks, compared to five weeks in 2024, which impacted the figures. Total spending was down 15% to $4.5 billion, with content spending down 12%, console content down 35%, and hardware spending down 45%. PS5 hardware spending decreased by 38%, Xbox Series by 50%, and Switch by 53%. Despite these declines, PS5 remained the best-selling hardware in both dollars and units, with Xbox Series second in hardware spending and Switch second in unit sales.
The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for January 2025, based on dollar sales, were:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Madden NFL 25
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
- EA Sports FC 25
- Minecraft*
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Donkey Kong Country Returns*
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Sonic Generations
- Helldivers II
- Astro Bot
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
- Super Mario Party Jamboree*
- Elden Ring
- Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack
- Mario Kart 8*
- The Crew: Motorfest
- UFC 5
- It Takes Two*
- Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, do not share certain digital data for this report.
