January is traditionally a quiet period for the video game industry, and 2025 was no different. With only one new release making it into the top 20 and the usual strong performance from Call of Duty, there wasn't much to celebrate last month. However, there's an intriguing comeback story unfolding for a game that was considered a sales disappointment in 2024: Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth.
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth initially launched in February 2024, debuting at No.2 on Circana's charts, which track video game sales in the U.S. by dollar value. The game slipped to No.7 in March and ended the year at No.17. While these figures are solid, there was considerable speculation about whether the game met Square Enix's expectations, especially when compared to other major RPGs released that year, such as Dragon's Dogma 2 and its own predecessor, Final Fantasy 7: Remake. Square Enix admitted the game didn't meet its sales targets and didn't disclose specific sales figures, indicating it didn't perform as well as hoped.
A significant factor in its initial performance was its exclusivity to the PS5, which can hinder sales compared to cross-platform releases. However, by January 2025, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth was no longer exclusive, having been released on Steam. This move propelled it to No.3 on the Circana charts for January, up from No.56 in December. Similarly, the Final Fantasy 7: Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack jumped from No.265 in December to No.16 in January, buoyed by the Steam launch.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted the success of Rebirth's Steam launch on Bluesky, noting that it was the best-selling game of the week ending January 25th in the U.S. market, with the Twin Pack ranking third. This U.S. success likely reflects a broader global trend, which could influence Square Enix's future release strategies. Piscatella commented:
"It's hard to gauge the exact impact of the Steam release on Square Enix's perception of the game's success, as it involves internal planning and expectations. However, consumer response to the Steam launch has been very positive. This launch underscores the importance of releasing on PC, regardless of genre or past release strategies. For third-party publishers, it's becoming increasingly challenging to justify exclusive releases on a single platform without substantial incentives from the platform holder."
We'll have to wait until Square Enix's next earnings call in May to see their official response to these developments.
As for the rest of the charts, it's no surprise that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 topped the sales list, followed by Madden NFL 25. The only new release to crack the top 20 was Donkey Kong Country: Returns on Nintendo Switch, which reached No.8 based solely on physical sales, as Nintendo does not share digital sales data.
It Takes Two also made a notable return to the top 20, at No.20. According to Piscatella, this resurgence was due to ongoing promotions during January on both the PlayStation store and eShop. He added, "It Takes Two maintained steady sales throughout the month, but the uptick began in December, continuing into January." This boost is partly attributed to the upcoming release of Hazelight Studios' next game, Split Fiction, set for March.
Overall, January's spending figures were down compared to last year, partly because the tracking period was four weeks long in 2025, compared to five weeks in 2024. Total spending was down 15% to $4.5 billion for the month (although it was 0.3% ahead of January 2023's four-week period). Accessories spending dropped by 28% year-over-year, content spending by 12%, and console content by 35%. Hardware spending saw a 45% decline, with PS5 down 38%, Xbox Series down 50%, and Switch down 53%. Despite these declines, the PS5 was the best-selling hardware in both dollars and units, followed by the Xbox Series in hardware spending and the Switch in unit sales.
The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for January 2025, based on dollar sales, are as follows:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Madden NFL 25
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
- EA Sports FC 25
- Minecraft*
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Donkey Kong Country Returns*
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Sonic Generations
- Helldivers II
- Astro Bot
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
- Super Mario Party Jamboree*
- Elden Ring
- Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack
- Mario Kart 8*
- The Crew: Motorfest
- UFC 5
- It Takes Two*
- Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, do not share certain digital data for this report.
