EA Sports College Football 25 has become the best-selling sports game ever launched in the U.S., according to industry-tracking firm Circana. The revival of EA’s college football franchise has been doing good business since it launched in September, and even recently won the Game Award for Best Sports/Racing Game for this year. Its success is a standout in a relatively quiet month in U.S.-based video game sales.
| November 2024 Dollar Sales, Millions | Nov 2023 |
Nov 2024 |
Change |
| Total Video Game Sales | $6,171 | $5,755 | -7% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $4,889 | $4,455 | -9% |
| Video Game Hardware | $924 | $927 | 0% |
| Video Game Accessories | $358 | $373 | 4% |
“Projected November 2024 U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories fell 7% when compared to a year ago, to $5.8 billion,” said Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive producer for games reports. “The decline was driven in part by the debut of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in October this year, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) launched during the November tracking month a year ago.”
Hardware sales for the year have been on a downward trend for months — this is the first time since July that the sales change hasn’t been a negative. However, this is likely due to the dip in software sales in November 2023 (which were down 24% year-over-year) rather than exceptional sales in November 2024. Piscatella also notes that hardware sales for PlayStation 5 grew, while sales of Xbox Series consoles and Nintendo Switch were down.
| Year-to-Date 2024 Dollar Sales, Millions | 2023 YTD |
2024 YTD |
Change |
| Total Video Game Sales | $51,012 | $51,116 | 0% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $43,796 | $44,878 | 2% |
| Video Game Hardware | $4,897 | $3,742 | -24% |
| Video Game Accessories | $2,319 | $2,495 | 8% |
Piscatella notes that the PlayStation 5’s boost in sales comes in part from the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro. “PlayStation 5 Pro accounted for 19% of total PlayStation 5 units sold in the month and 28% of dollars. Launch month dollar sales of PlayStation 5 Pro were more than 50% higher than the November 2016 launch month sales of PlayStation 4 Pro, while units were 12% lower.”
Circana November 2024: Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Title | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 2 | 8 | Madden NFL 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | 10 | EA Sports FC 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | 11 | EA Sports College Football 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | 2 | Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 6 | 7 | Super Mario Party Jamboree* | Nintendo |
| 7 | NEW | Mario & Luigi: Brothership* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 9 | Sonic X Shadow Generations | Sega |
| 9 | 17 | NBA 2K25* | Take-Two Interactive |
| 10 | 6 | Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Electronic Arts |
| 11 | 13 | Hogwarts Legacy | Warner Bros. Games |
| 12 | NEW | Dragon Quest III | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 13 | 15 | Astro Bot | Sony (Corp) |
| 14 | 22 | Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Sony (Corp) |
| 15 | 3 | Silent Hill 2 (2024) | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 16 | 4 | Undisputed | Plaion |
| 17 | 5 | Metaphor: ReFantazio | Sega |
| 18 | 16 | Minecraft^^ | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 19 | NEW | My Sims: Cozy Bundle | Electronic Arts |
| 20 | 87 | Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics | Capcom USA |
^^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 remains top of the list in November over several of EA’s sports titles, which are boosted, likely thanks to Black Friday sales. Only a few of November’s games make the list, including Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Dragon Quest III and My Sims: Cozy Bundle. While it didn’t make the sales charts, GSC Game World’s Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl showed high levels of player engagement on Xbox and Steam.
The other interesting shift on the list is Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics getting a boost all the way from 87th place to 20th. It’s not entirely clear what caused the game’s jump so far up the list — though the launch of the physical version on November 22 is a likely factor.
Circana November 2024: 20 best-selling games of 2024 so far
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Title | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | EA Sports College Football 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 3 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 3 | 2 | Helldivers II | Sony (Corp) |
| 4 | 4 | Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 5 | 5 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 6 | 6 | Madden NFL 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | 10 | EA Sports FC 25 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | 7 | EA Sports MVP Bundle | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | 8 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 10 | 9 | Dragon’s Dogma II | Capcom USA |
| 11 | 12 | MLB: The Show 24^ | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 12 | 11 | WWE 2K24** | Take-Two Interactive |
| 13 | 13 | Hogwarts Legacy | Warner Bros. Games |
| 14 | 14 | Grand Theft Auto V** | Take-Two Interactive |
| 15 | 15 | Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 16 | 16 | Tekken 8 | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 17 | 17 | NBA 2K24** | Take-Two Interactive |
| 18 | 18 | Minecraft^^ | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 19 | 19 | Madden NFL 24 | Electronic Arts |
| 20 | 24 | Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Sony (Corp) |
** Sep-Nov digital sales not included
^^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included
EA Sports College Football 25 continues to keep its place at the top of the year’s best-selling list, thought Black Ops 6 has now edged up enough (with the addition of a month of sales) to displace Helldivers 2 from its second-place throne. Another EA title, EA Sports FC 25 has also risen up the charts since its launch. The only other interesting change on the list is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s jump from 24th place to 20th — likely due to the game being one of the titles to receive a graphical boost on the PlayStation 5 Pro.