The top five games played on the PlayStation in 2025 by US players were exactly the same as in 2024, according to Circana's Player Engagement Tracker.
This information, published by senior director at Circana Mat Piscatella, states that Fortnite took the top spot in 2025, followed by Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto V, Roblox, then Minecraft. This is interesting as this list is an exact replication of the top five games played on US PlayStations in 2024.
Looking at the top five games played on US Xbox's in 2025, there's a slight difference in the order of the games which take the top five spots, but the games themselves remain the same. In 2025, Fortnite took the number one spot, followed by Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, and Roblox. Whereas in 2024, Call of Duty was number one, followed by Fortnite, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V, then Roblox at number five.
It's safe to say that, judging by these stats, the upper echelon of popular games right now are somewhat cemented in place. With the biggest live service games bringing in absurd profit and player engagement metrics, it's a tricky task to break into the space and survive, let alone thrive. A year after its launch, Fortnite made over $5bn and has shown little sign of slowing down ever since.
That should provide some context as to why developers keep attempting to make big live service hits; if they can catch on, the potential profits are staggering. Arc Raiders would be an example of this going well, while examples of these sorts of games not catching on are far more numerous. Just look at Warhaven, which shut down only four months after its early access release.
Will 2026's top five list be different? Even with Call of Duty having hit a bit of a road bump with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Arc Raiders performing exceptionally well, it's likely the top five list itself will stay very similar. If Grand Theft Auto VI hadn't been delayed to November, perhaps we'd have seen a passing of the torch to the sequel.
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