What you need to know
- Circana (previously known as the NPD Group) shared a sales update for video games and video game hardware in July 2023.
- Per Circana, Remnant 2 from Gunfire Games and Gearbox Publishing was the best-selling of the month in the U.S.
- Remnant 2 is followed closely by Diablo 4, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Hogwarts Legacy.
- A number of backward compatible Call of Duty games made it into the charts this month due to the Xbox servers being fixed.
We've got the latest details on top-selling games in recent months.
As shared by Circana executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella, Remnant 2 was the best-selling game of July 2023 in the U.S. Developed by Gunfire Games and published by Gearbox Publishing, this sequel to the 2019 game Remnant: From the Ashes sold a million copies in its first four days after launch.
Remnant 2 is followed by Diablo 4, 2022's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Hogwarts Legacy. Interestingly, a couple of older Call of Duty games also made it into the top 20 for the month thanks to fixes made on the Xbox servers, with players taking advantage of Xbox backward compatibility.
For consoles, the PlayStation 5 was the best-seller in dollar sales and units sold. Total video game spending for the month reached $4.2 billion.
You can find the full details on the best-selling games in the U.S. for the month and year below. As always, Circana tracks total dollar sales, not units sold, and some publishers like Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive don't provide digital sales data.
July 2023 Circana: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
1. Remnant 2
2. Diablo 4
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
4. Hogwarts Legacy
5. Final Fantasy 16
6. Pikmin 4*
7. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
8. Street Fighter 6
9. Elden Ring
10. MLB The Show 23**
11. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
12. Mario Kart 8*
13. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
14. Minecraft
15. FIFA 23
16. Exoprimal
17. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
18. Marvel's Spider-Man
19. Dead Island 2
20. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
*Denotes digital sales not included
**Denotes Xbox and Nintendo digital sales not included
July 2023 Circana: Here are the best-selling games in the U.S. so far this year
1. Hogwarts Legacy
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
3. Diablo 4
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
6. Resident Evil 4 (2023)
7. MLB The Show 23**
8. Dead Island 2
9. Final Fantasy 16
10. Street Fighter 6
11. FIFA 23
12. Dead Space (2023)
13. Elden Ring
14. Madden NFL 23
15. Mario Kart 8
16. Minecraft
17. The Last of Us Part 1
18. Remnant 2
19. God of War Ragnarok
20. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet*
Analysis: A much-needed win for Embracer Group
Embracer Group, parent company of dozens of studios and numerous publishing branches, has recently made no bones about the fact that it needed to restructure. As these things always do, that means cutting people and jobs, closing studios where "needed."
Obviously one game won't turn that around, but after a string of misses, Embracer now has a sizeable win on its hands with Remnant 2, coming after the prior success of Dead Island 2. If it can keep up these kinds of success stories with smart, well-scoped sequels that find solid audiences, the massive holding group can hopefully avoid cutting more jobs.
