Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth Soars to Top Charts after Steam Launch

January 2025's video game sales reveal a quiet month, dominated by Call of Duty and a surprising resurgence for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. While the game initially underperformed expectations following its February 2024 release, its January 2025 Steam launch propelled it to #3 on Circana's US sales charts, a significant jump from December's #56. The "Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack" also saw a dramatic rise, climbing to #16 from #265.

Analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted Rebirth's "fantastic" Steam debut, noting it was the best-selling game for the week ending January 25th in the US. This success, likely mirrored internationally, could significantly influence Square Enix's future cross-platform release strategies. Piscatella commented on the broader implications, stating that releasing exclusively on a single platform is increasingly challenging for third-party publishers without substantial platform-holder incentives.

The rest of the January 2025 charts showed the expected dominance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Madden NFL 25. Donkey Kong Country: Returns debuted at #8, driven solely by physical sales due to Nintendo's non-disclosure of eShop digital sales data. It Takes Two's re-entry into the top 20 at #20 is attributed to ongoing promotions and sustained sales throughout the month, possibly boosted by anticipation for Hazelight Studios' upcoming title, Split Fiction.

Overall, January 2025's gaming spending was down 15% year-over-year to $4.5 billion, partly due to a shorter tracking period compared to 2024. Accessories and content spending also declined significantly, alongside a substantial drop in hardware sales across all major consoles. Despite the downturn, PS5 remained the best-selling console in both units and dollar sales.

Here's a look at the top 20 best-selling games in the US for January 2025, based on dollar sales:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
2. Madden NFL 25
3. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
4. EA Sports FC 25
5. Minecraft*
6. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
7. EA Sports College Football 25
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns*
9. Hogwarts Legacy
10. Sonic Generations
11. Helldivers II
12. Astro Bot
13. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
14. Super Mario Party Jamboree*
15. Elden Ring
16. Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack
17. Mario Kart 8*
18. The Crew: Motorfest
19. UFC 5
20. 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.