Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: November 24 - November 28 (2025)
Circana's numbers of October & Global Video Games Report 2025 by ESA.
Reports of the week:
Circana: The U.S. Gaming Market in October 2025
ESA: Global Video Games Report 2025
Circana: The U.S. Gaming Market in October 2025
Market overview
U.S. video game revenue in October 2025 reached $4.885 billion, which is 3% higher than last year.
For the first 10 months of 2025, the market generated $47.057 billion, up 2% from the same period in 2024 ($46.186 billion).
Hardware sales in October increased 36% year-over-year to $351 million.
Nintendo Switch 2 sold 328,000 units in the U.S. in October. The console is currently tracking 68% ahead of the original Switch and 3% ahead of PlayStation 4 (previous record holder).
Sales of the original Nintendo Switch fell 52% year-over-year. Xbox Series S|X declined 37%, and PlayStation 5 declined 22%.
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Purchases of ASUS handheld gaming devices increased 4.8 times YoY, driven by the launch of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally. Overall, handheld sales for the brand are up 30% in 2025.
Content spending in October rose 1% to $4.359 billion. Mobile spending increased 10%, and subscription spending increased 9%, which compensated for declines in other segments.
Game Sales
Battlefield 6 was the top-selling new release of October by a large margin. Pokémon Legends: Z-A ranked second based on physical sales.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the number one physical game of 2025 for the first 10 months.
Ghost of Yotei continued to perform strongly and moved up to third place in October.
Other notable October launches included The Outer Worlds 2 in seventh place, Little Nightmares III in eighth place, and Ninja Gaiden 4 in eleventh place.
Battlefield 6 launched so successfully in the United States that it immediately became the best-selling game of the entire year, despite releasing only on October 10. On PlayStation, it ranked second behind NBA 2K26.
Battlefield 6 delivered the strongest single month of revenue and units sold since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in October 2022. Its first-month sales exceeded the entire lifetime sales of Battlefield 1 in the US.
Circana notes that the last shooter to outsell Call of Duty in the United States was Gears of War in 2006. For first-person shooters specifically, Star Wars: Battlefront II outsold Call of Duty in 2005. This means Call of Duty held the top position for 20 years, and Battlefield 6 now has a realistic chance of overtaking it.
Call of Duty has been the best-selling game in the United States 13 times in the past 16 years. Only Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption II, and Hogwarts Legacy broke that streak.
Xbox 360 celebrated its 20th anniversary in the U.S. The console sold 42.7 million units lifetime in the country. The three best-selling games on the platform were all Call of Duty titles.
The top mobile games by U.S. revenue in October were MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, and Clash Royale. Gossip Harbor saw the strongest growth, ranking seventh and increasing revenue 12% month-over-month.
Platform Rankings
On PlayStation, four October releases reached the top 10: Battlefield 6, Little Nightmares III, The Outer Worlds 2, and Ninja Gaiden 4. The Xbox rankings were similar, with the difference that Ninja Gaiden 4 was also available to Game Pass subscribers (and did not appear in top sales due to this reason).
On Nintendo Switch, in addition to Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Little Nightmares III, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake launched strongly, debuting at sixth place.
On PC, the ranking of new releases mirrored the console charts. The launch of Ghost of Yotei also boosted interest in Ghost of Tsushima, which returned to the top 10.
ESA: Global Video Games Report 2025
The report is based on a global AudienceNet study conducted in 2024–2025. It includes responses from 24,216 active players (those who play at least one hour per week) across 22 countries on six continents.
Each country had at least 1,000 respondents, with a representative sample of ages 16–65+.
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Global Player Profile
The average age of a player worldwide is 41.
The largest age group is 25–44, accounting for 49% of all players. According to the survey, there are more gamers aged 45–54 (16%) than 16–24 (14%).
51% of players are male, 48% female, and 1% are non-binary or preferred not to disclose their gender.
People play games to have fun, to relieve stress and relax, and to stimulate their brains.
55% of players play on mobile devices, 21% on PC, 21% on consoles (including handheld), and 2% in VR.
Gender Preferences in Games
Females play more often on mobile devices (64% compared to 46% among men), while males prefer PC and consoles.
In terms of genres, women gravitate toward puzzle games (62% compared to 39% among men) and other casual genres. Men prefer action, fighting, shooters, and sports games.
But there is almost no difference between genders when it comes to motivations for playing.
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Age-Based Preferences
Players under 35 participate in online games more often and use voice chat more frequently.
Players over 55 lean toward single-player games and puzzles.
Respondents under 35 more often say that games help them feel less lonely, experience positive emotions, meet friends or partners, and stay connected with family and loved ones.
Benefits of Games
81% of players believe games stimulate the brain; 80% believe games help reduce stress; 78% believe games offer an equal environment for people with different abilities.
Players also say games help them feel better, cope with daily tasks more effectively, and handle life challenges.
Games and Social Connections
People most often play with friends from real life, children, and family members.
More than 30% of respondents play with their grandparents at least once a month. A few years ago, this would have been hard to imagine.
Players from almost all countries rated playing together as a positive experience. The only exception was South Korea, where the positive rating for offline co-play was 46%.
Games and Professional Development
Respondents believe that games develop creativity (77%), problem-solving skills (76%), teamwork abilities (74%), and cognitive skills (74%).
Half of the respondents worldwide said skills learned through games had a positive impact on their education and/or career. 43% said games directly improved their learning or career.
Interesting that positive attitudes toward games are higher in MENA countries. My hypothesis is that the global nature of the games industry provides a form of social mobility and a social elevator for many respondents from the region.
Some regional insights
Mobile devices are the dominant platform in most countries.
Puzzle games are the most popular genre almost everywhere.
Players in emerging markets (such as Nigeria, Egypt, India) report stronger emotional benefits from games, such as reduced anxiety and improved mood.
In Europe and North America, fewer players report playing online with friends or family compared to Brazil, Nigeria, Mexico, and China.