
The latest results are in from the lovely Mat Piscatella (Executive Director and Industry Analyst at Circana) over on Bluesky, and more and more it seems Microsoft’s strategy of making lots of money through selling video games to whoever wants them starts to make sense, because Xbox Dominates the Sales Charts for April.
There’s plenty to pick apart in a lengthy thread from Mat – one headline is that the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was the best-selling game in the US last month, being the best selling on Xbox, PlayStation and fifth-best on Steam.
April 2025 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights from Circana – April 2025 total market projected U.S. consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 3% when compared to a year ago, to $4.1B. 2025 year-to-date spending was 8% behind 2024’s pace, at $17.8B.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) May 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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But in true racing car fashion, Forza Horizon 5 (now very old to us folks that play on an Xbox) was the second best selling game in the United States, shooting its way up from the back of the pack from a 42nd place ranking the month prior. The game recently released on PlayStation 5 as a part of Microsoft’s continued multi-platform push, and when a game performs like that in less than week of being on sale, it’s clear to see their strategy of selling games where the customers are is performing admirably.

Xbox Dominates the Sales Charts
If we turn out attention to the rankings across the entire month, Xbox have dominated the charts, with Indiana Jones taking 6th place thanks to its release on PlayStation 5 and Minecraft and Call of Duty doing well, sitting at 4th place and 7th place respectively. “Four of the top five – and five of the top seven – best-selling games of the month on PlayStation platforms were published by Microsoft.” says Mat.
Just today, Xbox announced that Hellblade II is releasing on PlayStation 5 later this month, with PS5 Pro support. The game is also getting free enhancements for the existing versions already available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC and Steam.
Does Microsoft’s multiplatform strategy still rustle your jimmies? Sound off in the XboxEra Forums or come say hello in our lovely Community Discord.



