Circana: Helldivers 2 debuts as best-selling premium game of 2024 in US, with 60% of sales coming from PC
Circana has released its monthly report on the best-selling video games, hardware, and accessories in the US. Helldivers 2 had a robust launch, placing it above all other premium titles released in 2024 so far.
Helldivers 2
- According to Circana’s Mat Piscatella, US consumers spent $4.71 billion on video game content, hardware, and accessories in February — up 2% year-over-year.
- Sales of game accessories jumped 25% year-over-year to $219 million. The growth was driven by a 14% increase in spending on gamepads and PlayStation Portal, which is included in the new Remote Play Devices category.
- The Hardware segment experienced the biggest decline, falling 30% compared to the same period last year — to $349 million. As Piscatella pointed out, “all console platforms were down a minimum of 19% compared to a year ago.”
Feb 2024 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights from Circana – Projected U.S. total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories grew 2% in Feb vs YA, to $4.7B. 17% growth in Mobile content spending vs YA helped offset a 30% drop in hardware. (Mobile source: Sensor Tower) pic.twitter.com/CNCve4LafX
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 21, 2024
- Helldivers 2 became the best-selling premium game of February, based on physicall and full-game digital sales (from publishers that share their digital data with Circana). It also became the best-selling title on both PlayStation 5 and PC.
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth debuted at #2, with the Remake + Rebirth bundle landing at #8. It is worth noting that the game launched on February 29, just a few days before the end of Circana’s tracking period (February 4-March 2).
- Other new releases on the chart include Skull and Bones (#4) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong (#11).
February 2024 Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content) pic.twitter.com/NTDfEd62Kx
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 21, 2024
- When it comes to year-to-date best-sellers, Helldivers 2 also leads the list, with Piscatella saying that its “launch month dollar sales represent the 7th highest total ever achieved by a Sony published title in the US (excludes add-on content).” In addition, Steam accounts for nearly 60% of the total.
Bellow are the top 10 best-selling premium games of 2024 so far:
- Helldivers 2 (new);
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (↓1);
- Tekken 8 (↓1);
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (new);
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (↓2);
- Madden NFL 24 (↓1);
- Persona 3 Reload (↓3);
- Hogwarts Legacy (↓2);
- Skull and Bones (new);
- EA Sports FC 24.
- Speaking of player engagement, Fortnite was the top game on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 by monthly active users (MAU), and Helldivers 2 ranked 1st on Steam. Call of Duty HQ ranked 2nd across both Xbox and PS5.
- Palworld also performed well, ranking 3rd on Xbox and 2nd on PC, and Dead Island 2 jumped from #121 to #8 on Xbox following its release on Game Pass.
February 2024 Top 10 Titles Played on Steam Ranked by U.S. Monthly Active Users (Source: Circana Player Engagement Tracker) pic.twitter.com/llxyFHEPR4
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 21, 2024
- Monopoly GO! once again became the highest-grossing mobile game in the US, followed by Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, and Pokémon Go. The latter jumped 5 positions due to the success of its annual event.
- According to Sensor Tower, Monopoly Go! was the main driver for mobile game spending in the US last month, which increased by 17% compared to February 2023.
