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Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Leads US Sales in January 2026

Call of Duty Black Ops 7.
Image via Activision

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 emerged as the best-selling game in the United States for January 2026, according to the latest data from Circana.


The Microsoft-owned franchise has had its fair share of critics lately, but the numbers tell a different story. Players showed up, and they showed up in large numbers. Black Ops 7 claimed the top spot for premium game sales on PlayStation, covering both physical and digital purchases. That is a solid statement for a title that many were hoping would stumble.


On Xbox, however, the story played out a little differently. The game landed in 6th place on that platform. The reason is not hard to figure out. Call of Duty titles are included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which naturally pulls players away from buying the game outright. So the lower sales numbers on Xbox are less of a concern and more of an expected outcome.


The overall US Top 20 best-selling games for January 2026, as reported by Circana, looked like this:

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (Microsoft)

  2. NBA 2K26 (Take-Two Interactive)

  3. Madden NFL 26 (Electronic Arts)

  4. Minecraft (Multiple Publishers)

  5. Battlefield 6 (Electronic Arts)

  6. EA Sports FC 26 (Electronic Arts)

  7. Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two Interactive)

  8. Red Dead Redemption II (Take-Two Interactive)

  9. Final Fantasy VII: Remake (Square Enix)

  10. Forza Horizon 5 (Microsoft)

  11. Code Vein II (Bandai Namco Entertainment)

  12. Ghost of Yotei (Sony)

  13. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Plaion)

  14. EA Sports College Football 26 (Electronic Arts)

  15. Helldivers II (Sony)

  16. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Nintendo)

  17. Split Fiction (Electronic Arts)

  18. Elden Ring (Bandai Namco Entertainment)

  19. Flight Simulator 2024 (Microsoft)

  20. Fallout 4 (Microsoft)


Battlefield 6 put up a respectable fight, finishing fifth on PlayStation and third on Xbox. On PC, it actually edged out Black Ops 7 by one spot, landing in third while Call of Duty settled for fourth. Again, Game Pass likely played a role there.


The rivalry between these two franchises is clearly far from over, and that competition seems to be pushing both titles to raise their game.


Among the new releases, Code Vein II secured the top spot on PC storefronts and was ranked 11th overall.


Final Fantasy VII: Remake also made a notable jump, shooting up to ninth place in January after sitting at 225th in December. That spike came off the back of the new Switch 2 and Xbox Series ports launching during the month.


The broader US video game industry also had a strong start to 2026. As per the reports by Circana, total spending reached $4.7 billion in January, a 3% increase compared to January 2025. The growth was driven mainly by a 23% rise in subscription spending and a 16% jump in hardware sales.


Here is a breakdown of the spending figures:

  • Total Video Game Sales: $4,698M (up from $4,559M in January 2025), a 3% increase

  • Video Game Content: $4,266M (up from $4,152M), a 3% increase

  • Video Game Hardware: $248M (up from $213M), a 16% increase

  • Video Game Accessories: $185M (down from $194M), a 5% decrease


On the hardware side, PlayStation 5 led in both unit and dollar sales despite a 17% year-on-year decline. Nintendo Switch 2 ranked second across both measures. Xbox Series dropped 27%, and the original Switch fell 79% compared to the same period last year. Switch 2 spending helped offset those losses and kept the overall hardware category in positive territory.


Accessories were the one soft spot, dipping 5% to $185 million. According to Circana, that is the lowest January accessories spend since January 2020, when the figure sat at $143 million.

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