2025 is behind us and as always, we played a lot of video games. It was an interesting year, to say the least, sometimes good, sometimes less so.
This isn't about price rises or controversy, though, it's an early look at what Xbox and PlayStation owners were actually playing the most last year.
The numbers, per Mat Piscatella of Circana, have no real surprises. In fact, the top five games on each platform are exactly the same as 2024, albeit, in a different ranking.
2025's top 5 most played games on US Xbox ranked by % of active panel that played:1 - Fortnite2 - Call of Duty3 - GTAV4 - Minecraft5 - RobloxSame list for 2024:1 - Call of Duty2 - Fortnite3 - Minecraft4 - GTAV5 - RobloxSource: Circana Player Engagement Tracker
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-07T16:38:38.894Z
Specifically to Xbox, Fortnite rose, as did GTA V, while Minecraft and Call of Duty dropped. PlayStation was even more predictable, with the same exact games occupying the same spots.
On PlayStation, Fortnite retained its top rank, followed by Call of Duty, GTA V, Roblox, and Minecraft.
In any case, two of Microsoft's biggest hitters remain among PlayStation's most played games. That's on top of the success seen by previously first-party exclusives such as Forza Horizon 5 making the jump to Sony's console.
Caveats, of course, to add a little perspective. Fortnite includes every single mode under the banner, not just the battle royale most of us think of. And they're all free-to-play.
Likewise, Call of Duty encompasses everything accessed through the game's launcher. That means Black Ops 6, Black Ops 7, Warzone, and up until the middle of the year, Modern Warfare 3.
These numbers also serve as a timely reminder that, while useful (and sometimes fun), tracking Steam player numbers doesn't always tell the wider story.
Three of the games mentioned in the lists above aren't available on Steam, for example. Steam might be the biggest player in PC gaming as a whole, and its data is definitely useful, but it's also not the absolute metric that can paint a complete picture.
Call of Duty, for example, isn't doing that great on Steam. Plenty of internet people have taken great delight in this (though the same people are quiet about Battlefield 6's significantly declined player count.)
But Call of Duty is also available on the Xbox app and Battle.net, and objectively, Steam is the worst of the three to play the game on. Many have reported it just doesn't perform as well as on Battle.net, and the Tuesday Steam maintenance kicking players from live matches has turned players away.
In any case, the wider landscape seems to be more business as usual. I think the only game that might kick any of those out in 2026 will be GTA 6, assuming it actually releases this year. Even in the limited time it'll have, the number of people that will be playing should surely propel it into the top five.
Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!
