After 'Failing to Meet Expectations' at Launch, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth Shoots to No.3 in U.S. Charts With Steam Debut

January 2025's video game sales saw a relatively quiet month, mirroring the typical trend. Call of Duty's dominance remained unchallenged, with only one new release cracking the top 20. However, a potential comeback story emerged: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth.

Initially released in February 2024, Rebirth debuted at No. 2 on Circana's U.S. dollar sales charts, eventually settling at No. 17 by year's end. While respectable, Square Enix publicly acknowledged that sales fell short of expectations, fueling speculation about its performance compared to other 2024 RPG releases.

The game's initial PS5 exclusivity likely hampered sales. However, its January 2025 Steam release propelled it to No. 3 on the Circana charts, a significant jump from December's No. 56. The Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack also experienced a substantial rise, moving from No. 265 to No. 16.

Analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted Rebirth's "fantastic" Steam launch, noting it was the best-selling game for the week ending January 25th in the U.S. This success suggests similar international performance, potentially influencing Square Enix's future cross-platform release strategies. Piscatella commented on the impact of the Steam release, stating that while the effect on publisher perception is difficult to gauge without internal knowledge, the consumer response was overwhelmingly positive. He further emphasized the increasing difficulty for third-party publishers to maintain single-platform exclusivity without significant platform-holder incentives.

The remaining top 20 largely consisted of established titles, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Madden NFL 25 leading the pack. Donkey Kong Country: Returns (Switch) was the only new entry, reaching No. 8 based solely on physical sales due to Nintendo's non-disclosure of digital sales data. It Takes Two's return to the top 20 (No. 20) is attributed to ongoing promotion, particularly in late January, and sustained sales throughout the month, potentially linked to the upcoming release of Hazelight Studios' Split Fiction in March.

January 2025's overall spending figures showed a 15% decrease compared to the previous year, partly due to a shorter tracking period (four weeks versus five). This resulted in $4.5 billion in total spending, though this was still 0.3% ahead of January 2023's four-week period. Accessories and content spending also saw significant year-over-year declines. Hardware sales were down across all major consoles, with PS5 remaining the best-selling console in both units and dollar sales.

Top 20 Best-Selling Games (U.S., January 2025, by dollar sales):

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
2. Madden NFL 25
3. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
4. EA Sports FC 25
5. Minecraft*
6. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
7. EA Sports College Football 25
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns*
9. Hogwarts Legacy
10. Sonic Generations
11. Helldivers II
12. Astro Bot
13. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
14. Super Mario Party Jamboree*
15. Elden Ring
16. Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack
17. Mario Kart 8*
18. The Crew: Motorfest
19. UFC 5
20. It Takes Two

*Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, do not share certain digital data for this report.