Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth Climbs to No.3 in U.S. Charts After Steam Launch

January 2025 proved to be a relatively quiet month for the video game industry, with only one new title making it into the top 20 best-sellers. However, the month was marked by a significant resurgence for Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, which had been considered a sales disappointment by Square Enix the previous year.

Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth initially launched in February 2024, securing the No.2 spot on Circana's charts based on dollar sales in the U.S. Its position slipped to No.7 in March and ended the year at No.17. Despite these respectable figures, Square Enix expressed dissatisfaction with the game's sales performance, hinting at unmet expectations without disclosing specific sales numbers.

Originally a PS5 exclusive, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth expanded its reach to Steam in January 2025, leading to a remarkable climb from No.56 in December to No.3 in the Circana charts. The Final Fantasy 7: Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack also saw a significant rise, moving from No.265 to No.16. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, Rebirth enjoyed a "fantastic" launch on Steam, topping the U.S. sales charts for the week ending January 25th, while the Twin Pack ranked third.

This success on Steam suggests a broader market appeal and could influence Square Enix's strategy for future releases, possibly leaning towards multi-platform launches. Piscatella noted, "releasing on PC makes a ton of sense at this point regardless of genre or historical release strategies." He added, "For 3rd party publishers, it's looking harder and harder to release exclusively on a single platform without significant incentives provided by the platform holder."

The gaming community will be watching closely to see if this shift in sales impacts Square Enix's plans, with more insights expected at their next earnings call in May.

In other news, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 continued its reign at the top of the charts, followed by Madden NFL 25. The only new release to break into the top 20 was Donkey Kong Country: Returns on Nintendo Switch, landing at No.8 based solely on physical sales. It Takes Two also made a notable return to the top 20 at No.20, boosted by promotions ahead of Hazelight Studios' upcoming game, Split Fiction, set to release in March.

Overall, January's gaming industry spending saw a downturn, with a 15% decrease to $4.5 billion compared to the previous year, influenced by a shorter tracking period. Content spending dropped by 12%, with console content down 35%, and hardware spending saw a 45% decline. PS5 led in hardware sales, followed by Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch.

The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for January 2025, based on dollar sales, were as follows:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Madden NFL 25
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
EA Sports FC 25
Minecraft*
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
EA Sports College Football 25
Donkey Kong Country Returns*
Hogwarts Legacy
Sonic Generations
Helldivers II
Astro Bot
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
Super Mario Party Jamboree*
Elden Ring
Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack
Mario Kart 8*
The Crew: Motorfest
UFC 5
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.