What you need to know
- Circana shared the sales data for the video game industry in October 2023 in the U.S.
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the best-selling game of the month, followed by Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Assassin's Creed Mirage.
- Starfield, the best-selling game of September 2023, is still in the top 20 games sold for the month of October.
- PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console hardware.
A new month means new sales data to pour over in the gaming industry.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was the best-selling game of October 2023 in U.S, as shared by executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella on Twitter. The web-slinger was followed by Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Assassin's Creed Mirage.
The Xbox console exclusive Starfield, which was the top-seller for the previous month, fell to #14 for October, though of course, Bethesda's science-fiction role-playing game is available on Xbox Game Pass.
Alan Wake 2, which released toward the end of the month, is not in the top 20, and while Piscatella tells me Epic Publishing doesn't share sales data, Alan Wake 2 was also not in the top 100 for monthly active users on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series consoles.
The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of the month, with Xbox Series X|S taking the #2 spot in dollar sales, while Nintendo Switch was second in units sold. Overall spending for the month reached $4 billion, a drop of 5% year-over-year, largely due to the absence of a new Call of Duty game, as last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) launched in October 2022, while Modern Warfare 3 (2023) released in November 2023.
Newly provided this month are charts ranking engagement, meaning Circana is measuring monthly active users of games played across Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam platforms. While this doesn't include Nintendo or other Windows PC launchers, it's still useful insight.
October 2023 Circana: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
1. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
3. Assassin's Creed Mirage
4. Madden NFL 24
5. EA Sports FC 24
6. Mortal Kombat 1
7. UFC 5
8. NHL 24
9. Sonic Superstars
10. Hogwarts Legacy
11. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
12. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1
13. NBA 2K24*
14. Starfield
15. Elden Ring
16. The Crew Motorfest
17. Forza Motorsport (2023)
18. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
19. Minecraft
20. Lords of the Fallen (2023)*
October 2023 Circana: Here are the best-selling games in the U.S. so far this year
1. Hogwarts Legacy
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
3. Madden NFL 24
4. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
5. Diablo 4
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
7. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
8. Mortal Kombat 1
9. Starfield
10. Resident Evil 4 (2023)
11. MLB The Show 23**
12. EA Sports FC 24
13. Dead Island 2
14. Final Fantasy 16
15. Street Fighter 6
16. FIFA 23
17. Elden Ring
18. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
19. Remnant 2
20. Dead Space (2023)
October 2023 Circana: Top 20 games played by platform
PlayStation:
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
2. Fortnite
3. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
4. Roblox
5. Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered
6. NBA 2K24
7. Mortal Kombat 1
8. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
9. The Callisto Protocol
10. Madden NFL 24
11. Apex Legends
12. Minecraft
13. Gotham Knights
14. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
15. Cyberpunk 2077
16. NBA 2K23
17. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
18. My Hero Ultra Rumble
19. Overwatch 2
20. Destiny 2
Xbox:
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
2. Fortnite
3. Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered
4. Starfield
5. Gotham Knights
6. Roblox
7. Forza Motorsport
8. Minecraft
9. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
10. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
11. Apex Legends
12. Payday 3
13. NBA 2K24
14. Party Animals
15. My Hero Ultra Rumble
16. Madden NFL 24
17. Forza Horizon 5
18. Overwatch 2
19. Mortal Kombat 1
20. Dead Space (2023)
Steam:
1. Counter-Strike 2
2. Baldur's Gate 3
3. Cyberpunk 2077
4. The Finals (beta)
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
6. Rocket League
7. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
8. Phasmaphobia
9. Apex Legends
10. Starfield
11. Team Fortress 2
12. Destiny 2
13. BattleBit Remastered
14. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
15. Dead by Daylight
16. Rust
17. Halo Infinite
18. Deep Rock Galactic
19. DOTA 2
20. Terraria
* No digital data shared
** No digital data shared for Xbox or Nintendo platforms
Analysis: Spidey strong and Starfield's legs
Marvel's Spider-Man is easily one of the biggest brands (arguably the biggest) PlayStation has right now, so it's not surprising to see it go that high. I assume it'll be around a year before we hear anything about a PC port, but just like with the two prior games, that'll ensure it has great longevity.
For Xbox, Starfield still hanging in the paid charts despite being in Xbox Game Pass is great to see, and as long as Bethesda keeps on sharing new updates and fixes quickly, I'm expecting Starfield to become a long-term winner for the rest of the generation.
