Best-selling game in the U.S. every year since 1998

For years, Call of Duty has typically been the best-selling game in the United States each year. While “Hogwarts Legacy” took the crown in 2023, “Call of Duty” took the top spot again in 2024, “Black Ops 6” ranks as the number one best-selling game of the year.

With the best-selling games of 2024 announced, we now take a look back at the past 25 years of game sales in the United States, and today seems to be a real eye-opener.

Circana (formerly NPD Group) Posted the data on social media By: Analyst Mat Piscatella. These lists are ranked by sales, not unit sales. It's also important to note that this list includes physical game sales and Digital sales (from 2012 onwards) – but only from publishers who provide this data. But not every company does this, so these lists aren't perfect. It's also worth remembering that they only cover one calendar year, which means that a consistent seller (like Minecraft) won't rank as high as you might expect over time. With these caveats in mind, these lists do provide a general overview of which games have sold best in the United States over the past 26 years.

You'll notice that the Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto games regularly top the charts, as do the sports game Madden and the hugely popular Rock Band and Guitar Hero series. But there are plenty of other games – wrestling games, Need for Speed, etc. – that once dominated the charts but haven't done so in years.

Scroll through the slideshow below to see all of the best-selling games of the past quarter century.