Highlights

  • Activision Blizzard dominates the top 10 best-selling games of 2023 in the US, with three titles in the list, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4.
  • Circana's monthly chart provides insights into game sales in the US, although it may not be entirely accurate due to the lack of digital sales data from platforms like Xbox and Nintendo Switch.
  • While Modern Warfare 3's sales may have declined compared to its predecessor, the Call of Duty franchise's popularity still propelled it to the second highest-selling game spot, with a chance to overtake Hogwarts Legacy.

Activision Blizzard continued its run as one of the most influential games publishers, as three of its games are in the top 10 best-selling titles of 2023 so far. Thanks to the many popular franchises that the publisher has under its belt, like Call of Duty and Diablo, Activision Blizzard is a force to be reckoned with.

Circana is a research company that releases a monthly chart showing the best-selling games to date in the United States. It should be noted that some platforms, like Xbox and Nintendo Switch, do not share digital sales numbers with Circana. This has a great effect on games like Starfield, due to many of its users playing through Game Pass. So while Circana's list isn't completely accurate, it still sheds plenty of light on how most games are performing in the United States.

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Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 comes in as the second highest-selling game of 2023 so far, despite it being released only a month ago. Activision Blizzard's Diablo 4 sits at number six, and last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sits at number seven. Although it failed to secure the number one spot from Warner Bros. Games' Hogwarts Legacy, it could be argued that this makes Activision Blizzard the most influential games publisher of 2023 so far. However, it has plenty of competition.

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What are the best-selling games of 2023 in the US?

  1. Hogwarts Legacy
  2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  4. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
  5. Madden NFL 24
  6. Diablo 4
  7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  8. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
  9. Mortal Kombat 1
  10. Starfield

Although Activision Blizzard finished with three games in the top 10, the 11-20 rankings are devoid of the publisher's name. Two of Electronic Arts' games can be found in this range, tallying EA's total to four games in the top 20, compared to Activision Blizzard's three games in the top 20. If it weren't for EA Sports FC's sales taking a hit after the soccer game rebranded from its FIFA title, EA likely would have matched Activision Blizzard's position in the top 10.

Modern Warfare 3's sales were down this year in the UK, and presumably took a downturn in the United States as well, compared to last year's Modern Warfare 2. However, the Call of Duty franchise's massive brand power was still enough to propel Modern Warfare 3 to be the second best-selling game in the United States so far.

With the Winter holidays approaching, Modern Warfare 3 still has time to dethrone Hogwarts Legacy from its top spot in 2023. However, Hogwarts Legacy just had a successful launch on the Switch and remains a popular game, so this may be too steep of a challenge for Modern Warfare 3 to overcome.