The year 2024 is recording very good figures for video games. With total spend (games, consoles and accessories) up 8% over 2024, the market gathered more than $60.4 billion in the United States. A substantial sum, in particular due to the very good sales of games this year. Sales whose ranking has also been revealed by the analyst group NPD. Unsurprisingly, it’s once again Call of Duty: Vanguard which managed to climb to the first place of the podium. More surprisingly, we find, just behind him, another opus of the Activision franchise: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Like what, the year 2024 was rather good, at least in terms of sales, for Activision-Blizzard.
| Rank | game name | Editor |
| 1 | Call Of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Activision Blizzard |
| 3 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | Pokémon Sparkling Diamond / Sparkling Pearl | nintendo |
| 5 | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | sony |
| 7 | Mario Kart 8 | nintendo |
| 8 | Resident Evil: Village | Capcom |
| 9 | MLB: The Show 21 | sony |
| 10 | Super Mario 3D World | nintendo |
| 11 | far cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 12 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 13 | Minecraft | Mojang Studios/Microsoft/Sony |
| 14 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons | nintendo |
| 15 | NBA 2K22 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 16 | Assassin’s Credd: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 17 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | nintendo |
| 18 | Back 4 Blood | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 19 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 20 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft |
The podium ends unsurprisingly with Madden NFL 22, youngest of the very popular sports license in the United States. After what we find Pokémon Sparkling Diamond / Sparkling Pearl, which portends a good score for the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and then finally Battlefield 2042 in fifth place. In short, this ranking is not surprising: we find the usual first in the class in the first rows. But with Microsoft’s just-announced takeover of Activision-Blizzard, it takes on another flavor.
This takeover will indeed make Activision-Blizzard licenses the property of Microsoft. Thus, if the redemption was already effective, Microsoft would have the two best-selling games in the United States in 2024. Just that ! Add to that Forza Horizon 5’s presence on the chart and Halo Infinite’s strong numbers on the December 2024 sales chart (second place), and you have a Microsoft in great shape for the coming year. It is not yet known whether licenses such as Call of Duty will become exclusives, but their presence in the Xbox Game Pass will certainly boost the American company.
The other major winning firm, given this ranking, is Nintendo. With four games on the list (including one almost 8 years old), the Japanese publisher is in a very good position. Especially since, as NPD points out, online sales are not counted for Nintendo games. It’s not taking a big risk to say that the publisher would be in an even better position if that were the case.
At the same time, Sony looks a little gray. With only two games in the ranking (in sixth and ninth place), the Japanese company is struggling to stand out. A hard blow for a firm that has always made its exclusive games its strong point. In view of the announcement made yesterday, this beginning of the year promises to be complicated for Sony. But it should be remembered that the publisher expects many strong licenses this year. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to deal with yesterday’s veritable tidal wave.
