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January 2025 was a relatively quiet month for the video game industry, with only one new release making it into the top 20 best-selling games. However, the month was marked by a significant resurgence of interest in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, which had previously been considered a sales disappointment by its publisher, Square Enix.
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth initially launched in February 2024, debuting at No.2 on Circana's charts, which rank video games by dollar sales in the U.S. However, its sales performance declined over the year, finishing at No.17. Square Enix expressed dissatisfaction with the game's sales, hinting that it did not meet their expectations. The game's initial exclusivity to the PS5 platform may have contributed to its sales challenges, as exclusives often struggle to match the sales figures of cross-platform releases.
The game's fortunes changed dramatically in January 2025 when it was released on Steam, breaking its exclusivity and climbing to No.3 on the Circana charts from No.56 in December. The Final Fantasy 7: Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack also saw a significant rise, moving from No.265 to No.16. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted the game's "fantastic" Steam launch, noting that it was the best-selling game of the week ending January 25th in the U.S. market based on dollar sales.
This success on Steam suggests that a broader platform release can significantly boost a game's sales, potentially influencing Square Enix's strategy for future Final Fantasy titles. Piscatella commented that the strong consumer response to the Steam launch underscores the importance of releasing games on PC, regardless of genre or historical release strategies. He also noted that it's becoming increasingly difficult for third-party publishers to justify exclusive releases without substantial incentives from platform holders.
As for the rest of the top 20, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 continued its dominance, securing the top spot, followed by Madden NFL 25. The only new release to crack the top 20 was Donkey Kong Country: Returns on Nintendo Switch, reaching No.8 based solely on physical sales. It Takes Two also made a notable return to the top 20 at No.20, driven by ongoing promotions and a sales rally that began in December.
Overall, January 2025 saw a decline in gaming spending compared to the previous year, with a 15% drop to $4.5 billion. This decrease can be partly attributed to the shorter tracking period of four weeks this year compared to five weeks in 2024. Content spending was down 12%, with console content seeing a 35% decline. Hardware spending also fell by 45%, with significant drops across all major platforms: PS5 down 38%, Xbox Series down 50%, and Switch down 53%. Despite these declines, PS5 remained the best-selling hardware in both dollars and units.
The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for January 2025, based on dollar sales, were 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.
Square Enix's next earnings call in May will provide further insight into how the company views the success of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and whether it will influence their future release strategies.
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