January 2025 proved to be another quiet month for video game releases, mirroring the typical industry trend. With just one new title breaking into the top 20 and the continued dominance of Call of Duty, there wasn't much to celebrate from the previous month. The one potential bright spot, however, might be the resurgence of a game previously considered a sales disappointment: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth first launched in February 2024, debuting at No. 2 on Circana's US dollar sales charts. It fell to No. 7 the next month and concluded the year at No. 17. While these figures are decent, they sparked considerable debate post-launch about whether the game met Square Enix's internal targets, especially when compared to other major RPGs released that year, such as Dragon's Dogma 2 or its predecessor, Final Fantasy VII Remake. Square Enix eventually confirmed the title fell short of sales expectations and notably never disclosed specific figures, implying performance wasn't strong enough to highlight.
It's worth noting, however, that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and platform exclusives often face steeper sales challenges than multi-platform releases. As of January 2025, its exclusivity ended with a debut on Steam, catapulting it to No. 3 on the Circana charts from its December position of No. 56. Similarly, the Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack surged from No. 265 in December to No. 16 in January, also fueled by its Steam release.
The positive news continues. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted on Bluesky earlier this month that Rebirth had a "fantastic" Steam launch, stating: "Across physical and tracked digital channels, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth was the best-selling game of the week ending Jan 25th in the US market (by dollar sales), while the FFVII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack ranked 3rd."
While this data focuses on the U.S., it likely reflects similar performance in other regions. Combined, this success could signal to Square Enix that a strategic shift is necessary. The strong PC launch inevitably fuels speculation that the company might plan future Final Fantasy releases as cross-platform launches from day one. When asked for his perspective, Piscatella shared the following:
"It's difficult for me to gauge the impact of the Steam release on the publisher's perception of overall success, as that involves internal planning and expectations I'm not party to. However, from a pure consumer response standpoint, it was an exceptionally strong launch month on Steam. This performance adds to the growing evidence that releasing on PC is a highly sensible move, regardless of a game's genre or traditional release strategy.
For third-party publishers, it's becoming increasingly challenging to justify a single-platform exclusive release without substantial incentives offered by the platform holder."
We'll have to await Square Enix's official reaction, likely during their next relevant earnings call... in May. Stay tuned for updates.
It's looking harder and harder to release exclusively on a single platform without significant incentives provided by the platform holder.
As for the rest of the January charts, it's no surprise that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 retained its position as the month's best-selling game, followed by Madden NFL 25. The sole new release to enter the top 20 was Donkey Kong Country Returns on Nintendo Switch, which climbed to No. 8 based solely on physical sales data (Nintendo does not share digital eShop sales figures).
Another notable return to the top 20 was It Takes Two, landing at No. 20. According to Piscatella, there wasn't one single reason for this resurgence. "Promotions were running during the month, including on the PlayStation Store and eShop in the last week of January," he explained. "But truthfully, It Takes Two maintained steady sales throughout the month. Its latest rally actually began in December, with noticeable upticks in both sales and player engagement that carried over into January."
Much of this promotional activity for It Takes Two is likely tied to building anticipation for Hazelight Studios' next game, Split Fiction, scheduled for release in March.
Overall, January's gaming expenditure showed a slight dip compared to the same period last year, but there's a plausible explanation. The tracking period for January 2025 covered four weeks, whereas January 2024 encompassed five weeks—an entire extra week of revenue generation. Consequently, total spending for the month fell 15% to $4.5 billion (though it was 0.3% ahead of the four-week period in January 2023). Spending on accessories also declined by 28% year-over-year.
Content spending was down 12% compared to the previous year, with console content spending plummeting 35%. Hardware spending saw a significant 45% decrease. Year-over-year, PS5 hardware spending dropped 38%, Xbox Series spending fell 50%, and Switch spending was down 53%. The PS5 led as the month's top-selling hardware platform in both dollar sales and units sold. Xbox Series came in second for hardware spending, while the Switch narrowly secured the second spot in unit sales.
The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of January 2025, based on dollar sales:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6Madden NFL 25Final Fantasy VII: RebirthEA Sports FC 25Minecraft*Marvel's Spider-Man 2EA Sports College Football 25Donkey Kong Country Returns*Hogwarts LegacySonic GenerationsHelldivers IIAstro BotDragon Ball: Sparking! ZeroSuper Mario Party Jamboree*Elden RingFinal Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin PackMario Kart 8*The Crew: MotorfestUFC 5It 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.
