Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the best-selling game of both December 2024 and all of 2024 in the US, returning to the No. 1 spot after Hogwarts Legacy in 2023.
This is according to Circana data and analysis by Mat Piscatella shared with IGN. The annual release of Call of Duty has historically almost always been number 1. The best-selling game in the US every year by dollar sales dates back to 2008, with a few exceptions. Both Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II beat it in their respective release years, and in 2023, Hogwarts Legacy took the crown. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is back this year, though it’s possible the victory is short-lived given the expected release of Grand Theft Auto VI later this year.
This year, Call of Duty was also the best-selling franchise in the US for a record 16th consecutive year.
EA Sports College Football 25, the #2 best-selling game and #3 best-selling game, was also the best-selling sports game in US history.
Not a single Nintendo game cracked the top 20 for 2024, though that’s likely because Nintendo doesn’t share digital sales data with Circana, which means all first-party Nintendo games on this list only include physical sales in their rankings. That said, on the Nintendo Switch, Jamboree Super Mario was the best-selling game of the year, followed by Mario Kart 8 at #2 and Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood at #3.
Most of the rankings in December were releases from the beginning of the year or even previous years, given the miniature number of modern releases. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle was the release’s only modern ranking in December, at 14th place. Since Circana tracks dollar sales, we don’t see modern releases from rivals Marvel (free game) or Path of Exile 2 ($30, as opposed to $60) on the best-selling games list. However, both were tied for Steam Maus’ top games in Circana in the US (No. 1 and No. 3 in December, respectively), and Marvel Rivals was also No. 3 in Maus’ PS5 and Xbox Series.
For the full year, US content spending increased 2% to $50.6 billion, the second-highest total content spend in US history, behind 2021’s $52 billion. There was an 11% decline in console content spending, but was offset by growth in all other content areas. In December alone, gaming content spending fell 5% year-over-year to $5.8 billion. There was a decline in console content spending in December, but PC content spending was up 13%.
Hardware spending for 2024 fell 25% from 2023 to $4.9 billion, with the PS5 being the best-selling console for both the month and the year. The Switch was second in unit sales for the year, and the Xbox Series was second in dollar sales. Digital editions accounted for 45% of PS5s sold in the US in 2024 and 44% of the Xbox series.
In December alone, hardware spending dropped 29% from 2023 to $1.1 billion in December. All three console manufacturers saw hardware spending decline. PS5 dropped by 18%, while Xbox Series and Switch dropped by 38%.
For the full year, overall gaming spending declined 1.1% to $58.7 billion. In December, total spending fell 8.9% year-over-year to $7.5 billion.
Top 20 best-selling games in the US in December, based on dollar sales:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Madden NFL 25
- EA Sports College Football 25
- EA Sports FC 25
- Super Mario Party Jamboree*
- Sonic x Shadow Generations
- Hogwarts Legacy
- AstroBot
- Minecraft*
- NBA 2K25*
- Dragon Ball: Sparring! Zero
- Elden Ring
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Helldivers II
- MARIO MAP 8
- Mario and Luigi: Brotherhood*
- God of War: Ragnarok
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom*
- Just Dance 2025 Edition
Top 20 best-selling games in the US for all of 2024, based on dollar sales:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Helldivers II
- Dragon Ball: Sparring! Zero
- NBA 2K25*
- Madden NFL 25
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
- EA Sports FC 25
- Elden Ring
- EA Sports MVP Pack
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Dragon’s Dogma II
- WWE 2K24*
- MLB: The Show 24*
- Grand Theft Auto V*
- Minecraft*
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
- Tekken 8
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- NBA 2K24*
*Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-two, are not providing certain digital data for this report.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her post on bluesky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to ralentine@ign.com.
