The numbers are in, and Hogwarts Legacy is the best-selling game of 2023, according to industry-tracking firm Circana. While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was a top-selling in both November and December, it couldn’t lap Hogwarts Legacy’s nine-month lead on it, as the Wizarding World title holds the top spot on Circana’s year-long list. For the month of December, video game sales remained mostly even, with a slight, 4% increase in total sales — though accessories saw a relatively large leap of 14%

December 2023 Dollar Sales, MillionsDec
2022
Dec
2023
Change
Total Video Game Sales$7,629$7,9064%
Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms)$5,574$5,7253%
Video Game Hardware$1,543$1,5984%
Video Game Accessories$512$58414%
*Mobile spending provided by Sensor Tower

“December hardware spending reached $1.6 billion, an increase of 4% when compared to December 2022,” said Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive producer for games reports. “Growth in Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales offset a double-digit percentage decline for Nintendo Switch.”

This puts an end to the relatively steady declining hardware sales that have caused negative percentages for the last few months: Sales were down 24% year-over-year in November and 23% in October. Accessory sales have remained relatively steady through this time either dropping a small percentage or rising by the same amount year-over-year.

2023 Total Dollar Sales, Millions2022
Year
2023
Year
Change
Total Video Game Sales$56,624$57,1891%
Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms)$47,487$47,9651%
Video Game Hardware$6,599$6,5870%
Video Game Accessories$2,538$2,6384%
*Mobile spending provided by Sensor Tower

“21% growth in December sales of Gamepads was the primary reason for the increase. December Headset/Headphone spending grew by 5% year-on-year,” Piscatella added. “Accessories spending finished the year 4% higher than a year ago, at $2.6 billion. A 7% increase in sales of Gamepads drove the growth. The PS5 Dual Sense Edge was the best-selling gamepad of 2023 in dollar sales.”

Circana December 2023: Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S

RankLast
Month’s
Rank
TitlePublisher
11Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)Activision Blizzard (Corp)
25Super Mario Bros. Wonder*Nintendo
34Madden NFL 24Electronic Arts
43Hogwarts LegacyWarner Bros. Games
52Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Sony (Corp)
6NEWAvatar: Frontiers of PandoraUbisoft
76EA Sports FC 24Electronic Arts
88Mortal Kombat 1Warner Bros. Games
99NBA 2K24*Take 2 Interactive (Corp)
1021Mario Kart 8*Nintendo
117Super Mario RPG (2023)*Nintendo
1213Sonic SuperstarsSega
1319MinecraftMultiple Video Game Manufacturers
1415God of War: RagnarokSony (Corp)
1514Star Wars: Jedi: SurvivorElectronic Arts
1641Elden RingBandai Namco Entertainment
1733The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*Nintendo
1820Just Dance 2024 EditionUbisoft
1911Assassin’s Creed: MirageUbisoft
2010UFC 5Electronic Arts
*Digital sales not included.

The alignment of games in the December charts aren’t a huge surprise, especially with Modern Warfare 3 staying at the top of the charts (as is usual for Call of Duty titles). There weren’t as many new games released in December to shake up the charts, so most of the best-sellers from November have stayed on the charts, with the exception of some of its new titles, like Star Ocean: The Second Story R, dropping off entirely.

The only new game to make it onto the charts is Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. For contrast, three new games made it onto the December 2022 best-sellers list. This could be buyer fatigue following the deluge of new games in both October and November. Avatar’s placement on the list is likely due to it being a high-profile licensed IP and some consumer faith in Ubisoft.

Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom return to the charts

The only other unusual feature of this December chart is the reignited sales of a few games that had dropped off the charts in November. The return of Mario Kart 8 is probably not a surprise — the game is a staple of the sales charts and only bumped off of it one place last month. The other two returns are Tears of the Kingdom and Elden Ring, which jump back up the list from 33rd and 41st place in November, respectively.

Elden Ring’s return could be down to holiday sales, as it was sold for a discount during Steam’s Winter Sales. It’s also possible that rumors about the release of its upcoming DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, could have fueled a resurgence. Similarly, Tears of the Kingdom may have gotten a holiday sales boost. Circana’s data on Nintendo titles is restricted to its physical sales, so it’s possible consumers were buying physical copies in anticipation of holiday gift-giving.

Circana 2023: Best-selling games of the year

RankLast
Month
Rank
TitlePublisher
11Hogwarts LegacyWarner Bros. Games
22Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)Activision Blizzard (Corp)
35Madden NFL 24 [EA Sports]Electronic Arts
44Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Sony (Corp)
53The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*Nintendo
66Diablo IVActivision Blizzard (Corp)
77Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)Activision Blizzard (Corp)
89Mortal Kombat 1Warner Bros. Games
98Star Wars: Jedi: SurvivorElectronic Arts
1012EA Sports FC 24Electronic Arts
1110StarfieldMicrosoft (Corp)
1215Super Mario Bros. Wonder*Nintendo
1311Resident Evil 4 (2023)Capcom USA
1413MLB: The Show 23^Multiple Video Game Manufacturers
1514Dead Island 2Plaion
1616Final Fantasy XVISquare Enix Inc (Corp)
1717Street Fighter 6Capcom USA
1819Elden RingBandai Namco Entertainment
1923Mario Kart 8*Nintendo
2025MinecraftMultiple Video Game Manufacturers
*Digital sales not included. ^Xbox & Switch digital sales not included.

Hogwarts Legacy came out the ultimate winner in Circana’s end-of-year sales list, beating out Call of Duty, which has traditionally taken the top spot. Piscatella said in an interview that if Hogwarts Legacy did beat Modern Warfare 3, it would be the first time a game other than a Call of Duty title had taken the top spot since 2008 (where Rockband topped the charts).

While this outcome speaks well of the strength of Hogwarts Legacy’s IP, it’s also possible this relative dip in sales for Call of Duty is because Modern Warfare 3 is not selling as well. Modern Warfare 3 received very poor reviews for its single-player campaign, and the title appears to be weaker than 2022’s Modern Warfare 2. According to Circana’s other charts, Hogwarts Legacy is the best-selling game on PlayStation for the year, while it’s second on Xbox (Modern Warfare 3 tops the Xbox chart).

One factor that changes the actual final sales figures is that not every game studio reports numbers to Circana. Larian Studios is one such example, which is why Baldur’s Gate 3 is not on this chart despite selling like gangbusters on Steam alone. But Hogwarts Legacy and Modern Warfare 3’s placement on the list is likely reflective of overall sales — Hogwarts Legacy has remained near the top of the charts since it launched in February, and Call of Duty titles historically chart well despite releasing so late in the year.

TechForgePulse's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, TechForgePulse will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.