Activision’s latest entry in their first-person shooter lineup is holding strong at the top of the gaming charts, maintaining its momentum as a fan favorite.
According to Mat Piscatella, an executive director and analyst at Circana, who shared insights via Bluesky this past Wednesday, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 dominated the U.S. sales charts for November 2024. After its impressive release in October, it continues its reign as the best-selling title for the month.
The game has nudged PlayStation’s Helldivers 2 to the side, claiming the spot as the second best-selling game of the year. The only title surpassing it is EA’s College Football 25, now celebrated as the top-selling sports game in U.S. history. The success of Black Ops 6 is also giving Xbox Game Pass a nice boost, with an 8% year-over-year increase in subscriptions.
Turning to hardware, the PlayStation 5 leads the pack in both revenue and units sold, followed by Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S, which take second and third places, respectively.
Below, I’ve detailed the top-selling games both for November and year-to-date. Keep in mind that this is not a full picture, as some publishers, like Focus Entertainment with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, choose not to disclose their digital data.
November 2024 Circana sales charts: Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Madden NFL 25
- EA Sports FC 25
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
- Super Mario Party Jamboree*
- Mario & Luigi: Brothership*
- Sonic x Shadow Generations
- NBA 2K25
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Dragon Quest 3
- Astro Bot
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Silent Hill 2 (2024)
- Undisputed
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Minecraft****
- My Sims: Cozy Bundle
- Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
November 2024 Circana sales charts: Best-selling games of the year so far
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Helldivers 2
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
- Madden NFL 25
- EA Sports FC 25
- EA Sports MVP Bundle
- Elden Ring
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- MLB The Show 24**
- WWE 2K24***
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Grand Theft Auto 5***
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Tekken 8
- NBA 2K24***
- Minecraft****
- Madden NFL 24
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Denotes no digital sales data
** No digital sales data on Xbox or Nintendo Switch
* No digital data from September to November
** No digital sales data on Nintendo Switch
Analysis: Has Microsoft cracked the Call of Duty code?
Microsoft’s decision to bring Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass raised quite a few eyebrows at first, but they’ve seemingly struck a winning formula. For two months straight, the game has not only dominated the sales charts but also driven up subscription numbers.
Looking ahead, I’m intrigued by how the annual Call of Duty cycle will evolve in the coming years, especially since almost all of Activision’s studios are still focused on fueling this behemoth. But for the time being, you can bet there are plenty of content folks at Activision celebrating these results.
