Summary
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game of 2024.
- Helldivers 2, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, and Elden Ring all appeared in the top 10, with titles like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Tekken 8 rounding out the top 20.
- Consumers in the U.S. Spent less on games overall, with spending down 1.1 percent to $58.7 billion.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game of 2024, according to a new report from Circana. While many in the gaming sphere won't be too shocked to hear that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the top seller last year, some titles appearing in the top 20 are a tad more surprising.
2024 saw the release of many blockbuster titles, from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Helldivers 2 to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Dragon's Dogma 2. Some of the top games of 2024 shocked the community, with the indie poker-themed roguelike deck-building title Balatro nominated alongside massive releases like Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. Gaming trends are always in flux, though some franchises seem to have more staying power than others, with a select few long-running series selling incredibly well last year.
Impressive Infographic Shows the 10 Best-Selling Games on Each Major Nintendo System
An impressive infographic showcases the 10 best-selling games on each major console Nintendo has released since the NES.
According to data from Circana and analysis by Mat Piscatella that was shared with IGN, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game of 2024, followed by EA Sports College Football 25 and Helldivers 2. Five games in the top 10 were revealed to be sports titles, with NBA 2K25, Madden NFL 25, EA Sports FC 25, and EA Sports MVP Bundle all selling incredibly well in 2024. Likely due to the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion in June 2024, Elden Ring remained in the top 10 best-selling titles of the year. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and Tekken 8 were the only fighting games to appear on the list, while Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Hogwarts Legacy, and Dragon's Dogma 2 were the major RPGs represented in the data. While no Nintendo titles appear on the list, this is potentially due to the fact that Nintendo does not share its digital sales data with Circana.
Top 20 Best-Selling Games in the U.S. For 2024
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Helldivers 2
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
- NBA 2K25
- Madden NFL 25
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
- EA Sports FC 25
- Elden Ring
- EA Sports MVP Bundle
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Dragon's Dogma 2
- WWE 2K24
- MLB: The Show 24
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- Minecraft
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
- Tekken 8
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- NBA 2K24
While overall content spending increased by two percent to $50.6 billion in the U.S. During 2024, hardware spending dropped a whopping 25 percent when compared to 2023, coming in at $4.9 billion. The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of 2024, followed by the Nintendo Switch in unit sales and Xbox Series X/S in dollar sales. Notably, consumers in the U.S. Spent less on games overall, with spending down 1.1 percent to $58.7 billion.
Some major releases are slated for 2025, with Monster Hunter Wilds, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Avowed scheduled to release during the first few months of the year. Though a concrete release date for the title has not been announced, Grand Theft Auto 6 is still shooting for 2025, with recent rumors indicating that the open-world triple-A title could cost as much as $100 at launch.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- October 25, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
WHERE TO PLAY
Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.
The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.
In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.
Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the undead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forward to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.
- Cross Save
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
- Prequel(s)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: World at War
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- PS5 Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- File Size Xbox Series
- 216 GB (October 2024)
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 Players
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
