14.12.2023

CoD: Modern Warfare III already became second best-selling game of 2023 in US, hot on heels of Hogwarts Legacy

Here is Circana’s monthly breakdown of the best-selling video games and hardware in the US. Call of Duty unsurprisingly had an impressive launch, but overall consumer spending was down compared to November 2022.

Hogwarts Legacy in shaky position, with Call of Duty now going after its crown as best-selling game of 2023 in US

  • As Circana’s Mat Piscatella reported on X (formerly Twitter), US players spent a total of $5.9 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories in November — down 7% year-over-year.
  • Game accessories were the only category to experience growth, with spending rising by 3% year-over-year to $303 million.
  • The 7% decline was largely driven by a huge dip in hardware revenue — $964 million, down 24% compared to the same period last year.
  • “All current generation consoles experienced a double-digit percentage decline in dollar sales when compared to a year ago, with Nintendo Switch showing the sharpest drop year-on-year,” Piscatella noted.
  • PS5 remained the best-selling platform in both unit and dollar sales, followed by Xbox Series X|S. PlayStation Portal debuted as the 4th best-selling hardware of November.

  • Sales of video games, including DLC, in-app purchases, and subscriptions, fell 3% year-over-year to $4.6 billion.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was the best-selling premium game in the US last month. Other new releases on the chart include Super Mario RPG (#7), Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections (#12), and Star Ocen: The Second Story R (#17).
  • “It is the 5th consecutive year that a Call of Duty title was November’s best-seller (Red Dead Redemption II ranked 1st in Nov 2018),” Piscatella added.
  • Thanks to its strong debut, Modern Warfare III has already become the second best-selling premium game of 2023 in the US, behind only Hogwarts Legacy. In just one month, it managed to outperform other major hits like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Diablo IV.
  • Interestingly, Circana’s year-to-date chart includes two CoD games in the top 10 — Modern Warfare III (#2) and Moderwn Warfare II (#7). The question is whether the new Call of Duty will be able to surpass Hogwarts Legacy, which sold over 15 million units (as of May), by the end of 2023.

  • According to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker, Fortnite was the top title on PlayStation in terms of monthly active users (MAU). It is followed by Call of Duty, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, GTA V, and Roblox.
  • Fortnite also became the most played game on Xbox, followed by Call of Duty, GTA V, Roblox, and Minecraft.

  • On Steam, Counter-Strike 2 remained the leader in MAU, and indie phenomenon Lethal Company experienced an impressive rise in popularity by jumping 113 places to #2. The top 5 most played titles also include Baldur’s Gate 3, The Finals, and Rocket League.

More data, including the highest-grossing mobile titles of November, can be found in the full Circana report.

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