Best-selling video games in the U.S. in August 2024

In August 2024, the U.S. video game market saw a significant decline in spending, despite some notable successes in specific sectors like mobile gaming and EA Sports titles. According to Circana, consumer spending dropped by 7% compared to the same period in 2023, amounting to $4.1 billion. The most substantial decline was in hardware sales, which fell by 36% year-over-year to $208 million. The Nintendo Switch experienced the sharpest drop with sales plunging by 41%, while the PlayStation 5 continued to hold its position as the best-selling console for the month.

On the content side, which includes full game purchases, downloadable content (DLC), subscriptions, and microtransactions across platforms such as console, PC, mobile, and virtual reality, there was a 5% decrease in spending, reaching $3.7 billion. However, Sensor Tower, a mobile analytics firm, reported a contrasting trend in mobile game spending, noting a 5% increase over the previous year.

EA’s Madden NFL 25 took the top spot as August’s best-selling game, marking the 25th consecutive year that the Madden franchise has led in its release month. EA Sports College Football 25, which was last month’s chart leader, came in second but still holds the title of the best-selling game of 2024 so far. This performance was achieved without including sales from the EA Sports MVP Bundle, which packages deluxe editions of both Madden NFL and College Football and ranked as the fourth-best seller in August.

Several other titles made their debut in the top 20 in August. Ubisoft’s highly anticipated Star Wars: Outlaws landed at No. 3, followed by Visions of Mana from Square Enix at No. 10, and Bandai Namco’s Gundam Breaker 4 at No. 11.

Despite the decline in August, the year-to-date figures for the U.S. video game industry remain stable, with a slight increase of 1%, totaling $36.3 billion. Video game content spending has risen by 4% to $32.3 billion for the first eight months of the year. However, hardware sales continue to struggle, down by 28% to $2.3 billion over the same period.

The top 20 selling games list, led by Madden NFL 25 and followed by EA Sports College Football and Star Wars: Outlaws, underscores the ongoing dominance of sports titles in the U.S. market, as well as the strong interest in major new releases.