Major Games of the First Quarter by the Numbers: Top Releases in Terms of Revenue, Sales, MAU, and Other Metrics

Which games released in the first three months of 2025 have turned out to be the most successful? We have prepared a comprehensive report, relying on sales charts from different countries and platforms, analytics companies like Newzoo, as well as official data from developers and publishers.

What data did we rely on?

Steam (PC) — a weekly chart of the most successful products on Valve's platform, updated every Tuesday. Games are ranked by gross revenue (not copies sold) over the past seven days. Other open Steam data, such as peak concurrent users (CCU) of specific titles, were also used.
GfK (consoles) — a weekly UK retail chart based on physical game sales in the country (without specific numbers).
Famitsu (consoles, mainly Switch and PlayStation) — a weekly Japanese retail chart that also indicates the number of physical copies sold for each title.
Circana (PC and consoles) — a monthly chart of the best-selling premium games in the USA (by revenue). Another tool used was the Player Engagement Tracker, which regularly monitors the most popular titles on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox by weekly active users (WAU).
Newzoo (PC and consoles) — a monthly ranking of the highest-grossing (by revenue) and most popular (by monthly active users, MAU) games worldwide. Formed based on data from six key markets: the USA, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France.
VG Insights (PC) — an analytical service evaluating gross revenue and sales for PC releases. It uses a complex method, including multipliers based on the number of reviews, regional prices, and its own algorithm based on actual data from publishers and developers. Although it's not immune to errors with specific releases, the creators claim the overall margin of error is around 5%.

Contents:

Monster Hunter Wilds — the main release of 2025 so far

By the end of the first quarter, Monster Hunter Wilds (released on February 28) became the undisputed leader by all key metrics. This is primarily indicated by Capcom's own data. In the first three days, 8 million copies were sold — the best result in the history of the Japanese company. Previously, the record was held by Monster Hunter: World, which sold 5 million copies in the same period.

The global success of Wilds is also evidenced by external sources:

the fifth-best online presence among all games in Steam history — at peak, over 1.3 million people played Wilds simultaneously, surpassing titles like Cyberpunk 2077 (1 million), Elden Ring (953 thousand), Hogwarts Legacy (879 thousand), and Baldur’s Gate 3 (875 thousand);
the game has held a spot in the Steam bestseller chart for 17 consecutive weeks — it last left the top-100 chart for the week ending December 3, 2024;
for 10 out of 13 weeks in 2025, Wilds was in the top-10 most-grossing Steam titles — following its release, it also topped the chart among paid and free-to-play products, briefly dethroning Counter-Strike 2;
VG Insights estimates Wilds' gross revenue at $363.5 million (on Steam alone);

Top-10 new releases of 2025 by the number of weeks spent in Steam's weekly top-10 chart (including pre-orders)

the only 2025 release to make it into Newzoo's monthly chart of the most popular games worldwide — in just one day, it climbed to 13th place in the overall February chart for MAU (between The Sims 4 and Apex Legends), and ranked seventh for PC;
the third most-grossing game in February on PC and consoles according to Newzoo — in terms of revenue, Wilds trailed only behind giants like Call of Duty and Fortnite (taking first place on PC);
the best-selling premium game in February in the USA — in the first two months of 2025, Wilds also holds the title of the most-grossing title of the year in the country (with more than half of the revenue coming from PC);
the best launch of 2025 in Japanese retail — over 600,000 physical copies sold in the first week on PS5 alone (by March 23, the total exceeded 763,000 copies);
having topped the UK GfK chart at launch, Wilds remains in the top for five weeks — after a strong start, it spent two weeks at second place and by the end of March, slipped to 15th position.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Remember, Capcom is placing a significant bet on Monster Hunter Wilds. From April to December 2024, the company's revenue fell by 16.3%, and operating income plummeted by 35%. In the absence of major releases, the company had to rely solely on its back catalog. Wilds is expected to rectify the situation, and its phenomenal success should secure yet another record financial year for Capcom. The fiscal year ended on March 31, 2025, so we're soon expecting a report and fresh details about the new Monster Hunter installment's metrics.

The most popular and highest-grossing games worldwide on PC and consoles by February end (according to Newzoo)

The triumph of Kingdom Come, the issues with Civilization VII, and the controversial start of Avowed

February turned out to be the most productive month for major new releases.

It all began with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which was released on February 4. Here are several key data points regarding the global success of Warhorse's medieval RPG:

one million copies sold in a day — for comparison, the first installment reached this milestone only a week post-launch;
2 million copies sold in less than two weeks — the original KCD took a year to achieve this;
including pre-orders, the game has been in Steam's top-100 chart for 13 weeks straight — upon release, it also topped the weekly chart among premium and free-to-play titles (only two 2025 new releases can boast similar standings: Monster Hunter Wilds and indie hit Schedule I);
peak concurrent users for KCD2 on Steam exceeded 256,000 CCU — the fifth-best result this year and a record for the publisher Deep Silver (a subsidiary of Embracer Group);

Top-10 new releases of the first quarter of 2025 by peak concurrent users on Steam