What you need to know
- The latest report from Circana shares details on the best-selling games and gaming hardware of February 2024 in the U.S.
- Helldivers 2 was the best-selling game of February 2024 in the U.S, with nearly 60% of copies sold coming from Steam.
- PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of the month in units sold and dollar sales.
- All console sales were down by at least 19% year-over-year.
The latest video games sales report is here, with information on what games and gaming hardware are selling.
PlayStation Studios and Arrowhead Game Studio's Helldivers 2 was the best-selling game of February 2024, per Circana executive director and video game analyst Mat Piscatella. The title debuted on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC (via Steam) last month, with Piscatella noting that almost 60% of Helldivers 2 sales came from Steam. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came in second place for the month, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 — the best-selling game of January 2024 — took third place.
For gaming hardware, the PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in units sold and dollar sales. Xbox Series X|S hardware was second place in dollar sales, while Nintendo Switch was second place in units sold. According to Piscatella, all console platforms were down by at least 19% year-over-year. Overall spending for the U.S. games industry reached $4.7 billion, driven by a 17% increase in mobile spending.
Below, you can find details on the best-selling games of the month and the year so far. Bear in mind that the games are ranked by dollars, not units sold, and that some publishers don't report digital games data, meaning some titles (especially from Take-Two and Nintendo) would be higher with digital presence, while other games like Palworld don't appear at all.
February 2024 Circana: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
1. Helldivers 2
2. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
4. Skull and Bones
5. Tekken 8
6. Madden NFL 24
7. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
8. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth Twin Pack
9. Persona 3 Reload
10. Hogwarts Legacy
11. Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024)*
12. EA Sports FC 24
13. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
14. Elden Ring
15. Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
16. Minecraft
17. Mario Kart 8*
18. Mortal Kombat 1
19. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
20. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
February 2024 Circana: Here are the best-selling games of the year so far
1. Helldivers 2
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3. Tekken 8
4. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
5. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
6. Madden NFL 24
7. Persona 3 Reload
8. Hogwarts Legacy
9. Skull and Bones
10. EA Sports FC 24
11. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
12. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
13. The Last of Us Part 2
14. Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
15. Elden Ring
16. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth Twin Pack
17. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
18. Minecraft
19. Mortal Kombat 1
20. Mario Kart 8*
* No digital data shared
Analysis: An excellent display of democracy
I've been having an absolute blast playing Helldivers 2, so I'm ecstatic to see it doing well. It's especially impressive considering that Circana ranking is based on dollar sales, meaning Helldivers 2 has to sell far more copies at $40 or $50 than a $70 game does in order to rank that highly.
In my Helldivers 2 review, I wrote that "I've had a blast playing innumerable co-op and multiplayer titles in the last decade, but it's been a long time since a co-op experience has gripped me this way, to the point that I'm eagerly looking forward to hopping on whenever possible. It feels like I discover some small new detail every time I play, which is no small feat for a game based around a mission structure that's extremely simple on paper."
With sales so high on Windows PC, we'll definitely see PlayStation stick to its plan of launching multiplayer games on PC as well as PlayStation 5 at the same time. I also won't be surprised if the time for single-player PlayStation Studios games to come to PC gets much, much shorter.
