January 2025 Sees 15% Decline in US Gaming Spending, Reaching $4.5 Billion

The successful Steam launch of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth led to the game securing the No.3 position on Circana's US charts for January 2025. This resurgence in popularity comes after Square Enix initially stated that the game failed to meet expectations following its release in February 2024. Additionally, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack saw a significant jump from No.265 to No.16 in the Top 20 chart, following the Steam launch. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 maintained its top position overall and ranked first on PlayStation's individual chart and second on Xbox Series X|S. Donkey Kong Country Returns was the only new title released in January, debuting at No.8 on the overall chart and claiming the top spot on the Nintendo Switch individual platform chart. On the mobile front, Monopoly Go led the charts, followed by Roblox and Candy Crush Saga. Pokémon TCG Pocket dropped three places but experienced its second-highest revenue week in January after an update. The streaming app ReelShort – Short Movie & TV entered the Top Ten, categorized under the interactive story sub-genre, as observed by Sensor Tower's Samuel Aune. Aune noted, 'ReelShort, released in August 2022, gained traction in 2023, and has now broken into the Top Ten mobile games by US monthly consumer spend.' US consumer spending declined 15% year-over-year to $4.5 billion, although Circana's tracking period for January was shorter than the previous year. Video game content spending dropped 12% compared to the same period last year. While non-mobile subscription spending increased by 13% and mobile spending rose by 2%, it was insufficient to offset declines in other areas of content spending. This includes a 45% decrease in hardware spending to $205 million, the lowest January total since 2020. Sales declined across all platforms, with the PS5 falling 38%, Xbox Series X|S by 50%, and Switch by 53%. The top 20 selling games for the period from January 5 to February 1, 2025, are listed below, courtesy of Circana.