“Surge in Sales: The Impact of ‘Call of Duty: Dark Operations 6’ on the US Market”

Expenditures by US gamers saw an increase in October, driven by the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

According to Circana’s monthly data, the combined sales of hardware, software, and accessories rose by 10% year-on-year, totaling $4.7 billion.

Diving deeper into these figures, sales accounted for $4.23 billion, reflecting a 12% increase compared to October 2023, while hardware experienced a 23% decline to $249 million.

Black Ops 6 debuted at No.1 in the October US rankings and became the third best-selling game of 2024 thus far. Circana noted that non-mobile subscription spending grew by 16% compared to the same time last year, attributing this boost to the launch of Black Ops 6 on Game Pass. (Xbox announced at the end of October that the title was setting records for Game Pass subscriptions.)

Circana also emphasized that console sales were the primary driver of the overall increase in spending, with a 27% surge compared to the same timeframe last year, fueled by digital full game purchases.

“PlayStation platforms represented 82% of the total dollar sales volume for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on console during the October tracking period,” stated Circana’s Mat Piscatella.

He further added: “During its initial two weeks on the market, total dollar sales for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 were 23% higher than those of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) in its first two weeks last year.”

Eight of the top ten entries in the US rankings for October were new releases, with Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero launching at No.2 and Silent Hill 2 (2024) at No.3.

EA’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard settled for No.6, while Sega celebrated two new entrants in the top ten: Metaphor: ReFantazio at No.5 and Sonic X Shadows Generations at No.9.

Here are the top 20 selling games from October 6 to November 2, 2024, based on data from Circana: