Battlefield 6 Smashes Records: The New King of the US Sales Charts!

As 2025 comes to a close, the data is in, and the impossible has happened: Battlefield 6 has officially dethroned Call of Duty to become the best-selling game of the year in the United States.

According to the latest year-end reports from GamesIndustry.biz and Circana, EA’s return to form didn’t just win the battle—it dominated the entire field. This marks the first time since 2008 (excluding Rockstar’s GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2) that a non-Rockstar title has kept Call of Duty from the #1 spot.

USA Best-Selling Games of 2025 (Retail and Digital)

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 won its launch month of November, it simply couldn't catch up to the massive momentum Battlefield 6 built since its October release. Here is how the US Top 10 looks at the end of the year:

1. Battlefield 6

2. NBA 2K26

3. Monster Hunter: Wilds

4. Borderlands 4

5. EA Sports College Football 26

6. Madden NFL 26

7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

8. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

9. TES IV: Oblivion Remastered

10. Ghost of Yotei

Note: US data includes combined digital and physical sales but excludes hardware bundles. Black Ops 7’s lower ranking is partially attributed to its Day 1 release on Xbox Game Pass, which shifted many potential sales into subscription numbers.

 

 

The UK Story: A Physical Kingdom

Across the pond, the charts look wildly different. This is because UK retail data often focuses heavily on physical sales, which traditionally favors Nintendo hardware and major European sports titles.

UK Best-Selling Games of 2025 (Physical Only):

• Mario Kart World (Switch 2)

• EA Sports FC 26

• Pokémon Legends: Z-A

• Hogwarts Legacy

• EA Sports FC 25

• Battlefield 6

• Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• Donkey Kong Bananza

• Minecraft

The Nintendo Switch 2 (launched June 2025) has been a juggernaut in the UK, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza driving massive physical sales that don't always reflect on the US digital-heavy charts.

Why Did Battlefield Win?

Analysts suggest a "perfect storm" led to this upset:

• Return to Form: Battlefield 6 abandoned the "specialists" of the previous entry and returned to the modern-day, class-based destruction that fans have been craving for a decade.

• COD Fatigue: Black Ops 7 launched just one year after Black Ops 6, leading to what many fans called "franchise exhaustion" and lower-than-average review scores.

• The Steam Factor: Battlefield 6 shattered PC records, peaking at over 747,000 concurrent players on Steam, while Black Ops 7 struggled to break 100,000 on the same platform.

 

The "Oblivion" Surprise

One of the biggest shocks of the year is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered landing at #9 in the US. Even 19 years after its original release, the return to Cyrodiil proved that gamers are hungry for classic Bethesda RPGs while they wait for The Elder Scrolls VI.

Final Thoughts

2025 has been a year of upsets. Between the rise of the Switch 2 and the fall of the Call of Duty monopoly, the industry landscape is shifting. Whether Battlefield can hold onto this crown in 2026—when GTA VI is expected to launch—remains to be seen.