US games market down 1% in 2024 to $58.6 billion, with Call of Duty and sports games dominating year-end charts

Circana has released its annual report on the US video game market. Here are the key findings on consumer spending and best-selling titles.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

According to Circana’s Mat Piscatella, the US video games market reached $58.65 billion in revenue in 2024, down 1.1% year-over-year.
Hardware sales experienced the biggest decline, falling 25% compared to 2023 to $4.85 billion. Video game sales rose 2% to $50.6 billion, while consumer spending on accessories increased 6% to $3.16 billion.
Piscatella noted that the $50.6 billion spent on video game content is the second-highest total in US history — behind only 2021’s $52 billion.

Image: Circana

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 became the best-selling video game of 2024 in the US by dollar sales* — from December 30, 2023 to January 4, 2025.

*Note: Circana’s charts are based on physical and digital sales from publishers that share data with the company (the list can be seen here), so there are no independent or smaller developers like Game Science (Black Myth: Wukong) or Larian (Baldur’s Gate 3).

“Call of Duty was the best-selling video game franchise in US full game dollar sales (excluding add-on content) for a record 16th consecutive year,” Piscatella added.
Black Ops 6 is followed by EA Sports College Football 25, Helldivers 2, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, and NBA 2K25. EA Sports College Football 25 is also the best-selling sports game in US history.
There are eight titles on the year-end list that were released before 2024: Modern Warfare III (#7), Elden Ring (#9), Hogwarts Legacy (#11), WWE 2K24 (#13), GTA V (#15), Minecraft (#16), Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (#19), and NBA 2K24 (#20).
Looking at other 2024 releases, Dragon’s Dogma II ranked 12th in dollar sales in the US, followed by Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (#17) and Tekken 8 (#18).
5 of the top 10 best-selling games of 2024 were sports sims: EA Sports College Football 25, NBA 2K25, Madden NFL 25 (#5), EA Sports FC 25 (#8), and EA Sports MVP Bundle (#10).

Image: Circana

PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of 2024 in the US by both dollar and unit sales. Xbox Series X|S ranked 2nd in dollars, while Nintendo Switch ranked 2nd in units.
According to Circana, “for the 2024 year, all-digital editions comprised 45% of all PlayStation 5 units sold during the year, and 44% of Xbox Series.”
PS5 is currently the 3rd best-selling console in US history by dollar sales, behind only Nintendo Switch and Xbox 360. It also ranks 11th in lifetime unit sales.

Circana also reported on US video game spending in December 2024. Total revenue fell 9% year-over-year to $7.5 billion, with hardware down 29% and game content down 5%.

When it comes to best-selling games, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 ranked 1st in dollar sales, followed by three sports titles from Electronic Arts (Madden NFL 25, EA Sports College Football 25, and EA Sports FC 25). The only new release on the December charts was Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which placed #14 overall. According to Piscatella, it ranked 4th on Xbox platforms.

Marvel Rivals ranked 1st in MAU on Steam in its debut month, while placing 3rd across PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Fortnite was the most played PlayStation game in December, while Call of Duty HQ ranked 1st on Xbox. Other new releases on Steam’s MAU charts include Path of Exile 2 (#3) and Delta Force (#6).