January 2025 marked a typically quiet period for video game releases, with only one new title, Donkey Kong Country: Returns on Nintendo Switch, making it into the top 20 best-sellers. However, the month wasn't without its surprises, particularly with the notable resurgence of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth.
Originally launched in February 2024 as a PS5 exclusive, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth initially debuted at No.2 on Circana's U.S. sales charts. Its performance waned over the year, dropping to No.7 in March and finishing at No.17. Despite these respectable numbers, Square Enix declared the game had not met their sales expectations, hinting at a disappointing outcome compared to other major RPGs like Dragon's Dogma 2 and its own predecessor, Final Fantasy 7: Remake.
The narrative shifted dramatically in January 2025 when Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth was released on Steam, ending its platform exclusivity. This move propelled the game from No.56 in December to No.3 on the January charts. The Final Fantasy 7: Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack also saw a significant rise, jumping from No.265 to No.16. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted the game's "fantastic" Steam launch, noting it was the best-selling game of the week ending January 25th in the U.S. market, with the Twin Pack ranking third.
This success on Steam suggests a broader appeal and potential for increased sales when games are available across multiple platforms. Piscatella commented, "Releasing on PC makes a ton of sense at this point regardless of genre or historical release strategies." He also noted the increasing difficulty for third-party publishers to justify exclusive releases without significant incentives from platform holders.
As we await Square Enix's next earnings call in May, the industry watches closely to see if this will influence their strategy for future Final Fantasy releases.
In other news, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Madden NFL 25 continued to dominate the charts, holding the top two spots. Donkey Kong Country: Returns was the only new release to break into the top 20, reaching No.8 based solely on physical sales, as Nintendo does not share digital sales data.
It Takes Two made a surprising return to the top 20 at No.20, driven by steady sales and promotional efforts in anticipation of Hazelight Studios' upcoming game, Split Fiction, set to release in March.
Overall, January 2025 saw a decline in spending compared to the previous year, with a 15% drop to $4.5 billion. This year's January had one less week than 2024's, which contributed to the decrease. Content spending was down 12%, with console content seeing a 35% drop. Hardware spending fell by 45%, with PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch all experiencing significant declines.
The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for January 2025, based on dollar sales, were:
- 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.
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