A football game has topped the US sales charts for the third month in a row. according to industry tracking firm Circana.. Let’s face it, the three matches represent two different types of football; While Madden NFL 25 and EA Sports College Football 25 dominated August and July, respectively, the best-selling game of September was EA Sports FC 25. The latter also broke a record, Circana reported. Highest launch month sales of any football game released in the US

But elsewhere in Circana’s report the picture was not so rosy. While video game hardware sales are still in free fall, overall sales numbers in the industry are declining year over year. Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive producer of gaming reporting, said in a statement: “Video game hardware spending in September fell 44% year-over-year to $251 million. This was the lowest monthly hardware spending total for September ($242 million) since 2019.”

Year-to-date sales charts are not great; It shows that total sales are almost at the same level compared to the September 2023 chart. While video game content in particular is up 6% year-on-year, that figure has been dragged down by an almost 30% decline from 2023 YTD 2024. According to data from Sensor Tower, mobile content spending is up, but most other statistics are down.

There are a few things worth noting about the specific sales results: Circana’s sales show that Xbox Series X has slightly surpassed the Series S in sales, accounting for 51% of Xbox Series units sold to date. Accessory sales are still ongoing; PlayStation Portal was this year’s best-selling accessory; 3% of all PlayStation 5 owners also have a Portal.

Circa September 2024: Top 20 best-selling games in the US

October’s sales charts include a high saturation of new games; seven new games enter the top 20; five of them are in the top 10. The best game is the aforementioned EA Sports FC 25, which beats last year’s EA Sports FC 24. It showed an increase in sales and broke the launch month sales record for a football title. EA’s football title continues to chart well despite the company’s break from the FIFA brand. The game also became the best-selling game on PlayStation and Xbox platforms and the fifth best-selling game on Nintendo Switch. NBA 2K25 and NHL 25 also bring success in sports games, ranking 7th and 9th on the lists, respectively.

Sony’s Astro Bot follows FC 24 in second place and is also the second best-selling game on PlayStation platforms. Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo’s new Zelda game, is the fourth best-selling game and could be higher, but Circana only has physical sales data for Nintendo products. Space Marine 2 was not only the 18th best-selling game, but also the third most played game on Steam throughout September. Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is the latest new game to hit the charts with its brand recognition and familiar characters.

Circana’s September 2024 chart may be the most chaotic chart yet

September’s sales charts include not only a number of new games, but also a number of games that have moved up the charts from a relatively low position. The biggest example of this was Dead Rising, which rose from 502nd place to 11th place, thanks to the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Piscatella clarified Bluesky Games are tracked by stock keeping units (SKUs), which means sales of the remake also count towards the original’s count. Age of Mythology appears to have received a similar boost thanks to the release of its Retold remaster.

Other games that moved up a few places were Final Fantasy XVI and God of War Ragnarok, which were released on PC on September 17 and 19, respectively. The PC release boosted the profile of both games, but God of War Ragnarok addressed some player dissatisfaction due to needing a PSN account to run the game.

Circa September 2024: The 20 best-selling games of 2024 so far

Unlike the September sales charts, the year-to-date charts remain relatively unchanged, albeit with some reshuffling. The only game to make it into this list in September was EA Sports FC 25, which pushed the previous EA Sports FC 24 down one place on the list. Madden NFL 25 is also on the rise on the list with its continued high sales.