2024 was a huge year for gaming. Many projects, whether indie or “Triple-A,” were revealed this year and brought anticipation to casual or hardcore gamers alike. These announced projects only established more for the 2025 gaming industry. Although there is no telling about the gaming industry’s future, the top-selling games in 2024 also had a strong influence on establishing a strong precedent for our current state of gaming. Here are the top 10 selling games of 2024.
10: “EA Sports MVP Bundle”
With sports games being some of the most popular and best-selling genres of video games, it would make logical sense for a bundle of two popular sports games to be on the top 10 best-selling list. With the EA Sports MVP Bundle, you get two games: “MADDEN NFL 25 Deluxe Edition” and “College Football 25 Deluxe Edition.” One of the primary reasons players preferred to buy the bundle version of the games was due to the three-day early access. The bundle itself doesn’t contain reviews of its own, but many fans claim the game to be too expensive for what it’s worth. The bundle costs $150 and the individual deluxe games cost $100 each.
9: “Elden Ring”
“Elden Ring,” released in 2022, is likely on this list because of its DLC (Downloadable Content), “Shadow of the Erdtree”, released in June last year. Developed by FromSoftware, “Elden Ring” is a creative new take on the “Soulslike” genre, featuring a multiplayer mode where players can fight together or against each other. The DLC offers a new open world with new weapons and features while increasing the difficulty. The base game “Elden Ring” and its DLC have each been nominated for and won many awards. When nominated for game of the year, “Shadow of the Erdtree” fell under some controversy when it was nominated because many felt DLCs should not be classified as stand-alone games. “Elden Ring” costs $60 and must be installed to play the DLC ($40).
8: “EA Sports FC 25”
For $70 in the standard edition of the game, “EA Sports FC 25“ is the most recent soccer sports game created by EA. Players face off against another soccer team based on real-life teams all over the world. This game encourages new players to interact with the world of soccer with five modes that all are high-intensive. The game creates a strong sense of immersion that is only supported by realistic graphics. The game, however, shares many qualities with its predecessors causing many players to claim nothing about this game has changed and has in fact not brought the hype surrounding the reveal. The critics on the other hand are more favorable with MetaCritic rating the game with a 76/100 score.
7: “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III”
Despite being released in 2023, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” did well this year and is the only game this year that managed to remain on the best-selling list two years in a row. Developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” is a first-person shooter with open-world combat-based missions. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” was met with mixed reviews and was heavily criticized for its gameplay and AI-powered moderation system. The game features a new mode called “cutthroat” where three teams of three players face off against each other. Many “Call of Duty” fans felt disappointed with the release and hoped the next installment in the series would be better.
6: “Madden NFL 25”
The second “Madden NFL 25” with the first being released in 2013, “Madden NFL 25” aims to continue the American Football video game legacy. Developed and published by EA Sports, this edition of “Madden” has an updated roster and quality of life within the game. Critics even claim that for “Madden,” the changes to the typical formula have been better than ever. Received an average score of 70 via MetaCritic, which is a comparatively decent score in comparison to the years around it. Players are unhappy with the game, however, comparing the mechanics of this one to “EA Sports College Football 25” which was a massive game changer in the EA Sports football series.
5: “NBA 2K25”
“NBA 2K25,” announced on July 11, 2024, and published by 2K, received mediocre reviews and was nominated for best sports/racing game at the game awards. “NBA 2K25” is the first game in the series to feature both a WNBA and NBA character on the cover. Many fans of the series felt disappointed with the new release because it did not change much in terms of gameplay and most of the new content came in the form of new animations and microtransactions. The game also has some roster changes and a paid DLC for a new fast-paced mode called Gravity Ball. Fans of the series are hoping for more in the next installment.
4: “Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero”
As the only fighting game on the list, this 3D fighter takes the characters of the popular franchise “Dragon Ball” and puts them against each other in this action-packed game. Released and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment on Oct. 8, 2024, “Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero” takes the definition of a 3D fighter and reinvents it to its definition. With a massive cast of 182 fighters, it’s one of the largest fighting game rosters out there. An entry into the “Budokai Tenkaichi series,” this game was a massive financial and critical success for Bandai Namco. This game came out as the third top-selling game for Bandai Namco only after “Dark Souls III” and “Elden Ring” thus ending up in the fourth slot of the top-selling game list.
3: “Helldivers II”
Released in February of last year, “Helldivers II” took Super Earth by storm. “Helldivers II,” developed by Arrowhead Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is a sequel to “Helldivers” released in 2015. In May, Sony made the decision to require a link to a PSN account to play “Helldivers II.” This decision made playing “Helldivers II” impossible to play in 177 countries and was met with much backlash and review-bombing. Sony quickly learned from their mistake, and a PSN account is no longer required to play “Helldivers II” on Steam. “Helldivers II” is a four-player co-op third-person PvE shooter where all players attempt to liberate the galaxy from Terminids and Automatons. For democracy!
2: “EA Sports College Football 25”
Nearing the top of the list, to no one’s surprise is another sports game! Released on July 19, 2024, “EA Sports College Football 25” is the 22nd release in the “EA Sports College Football” series. Due to legal complications with the NCAA and college athletes, EA was forced to take an 11-year hiatus from the series. EA’s absence from the series likely contributed to the hype around and sales of “EA Sports College Football 25.” Additional sales likely came from “Madden” players who wanted a game in a similar format that took a new approach. “EA Sports College Football 25” shifts the cycle and enables more team creativity.
1: “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6″
With the number one game being from the third most-sold video game series, “Call of Duty” released its latest game in the franchise in 2024 and was bound to make sales. Being released on Oct. 25, 2024, the number of copies sold in the two months before the end of the year demonstrates the power of “Call of Duty’s” name for the launch of a new title. The first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and Raven Software serves as a sequel to 2020’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.” Similarly to its predecessors, “Black Ops 6” contains a single-player mode, a multiplayer competitive mode and a cooperative versus zombies mode. With the addition of “omnidirectional movement” to the series, many critics consider this game one of the best in its series. All three modes are met with positive support compared to the predecessor “Modern Warfare III.” The game was nominated for four categories at “The Game Awards” for “Best Audio Design,” “Innovation in Accessibility,” “Best Action Game” and “Best Multiplayer Game.”
Looking forward to 2025, don’t expect things to slow down. With “GTA VI”, “Civilization VII”, the Switch 2 with “Mario Kart 9,” a new “Elden Ring” game and “Hades II” all projected to be released or already released in 2025, the future of gaming is looking bright. With so many great releases right around the corner, 2025 will be a great year for gaming.
Information sourced from circana.
