Live service games and sports titles continue to dominate the video game charts, with single-player games nowhere to be seen in the most played games on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in the US.
New data from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, covering the week ending July 25, reveals that the top 10 on both platforms are entirely dominated by ongoing live service games and annualised sports sequels. There are no single-player games or new releases in the top 10, as most console owners stick to familiar titles.
Fortnite tops both charts
Unsurprisingly, Fortnite holds the top position on both PlayStation and Xbox, although on PlayStation it had to reclaim it after losing it to Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 the week before. The two charts share many of the same names in the top 10, including Roblox, Minecraft, Marvel Rivals, and Rainbow Six: Siege.
The most recent games in the top 10 are this year's versions of NBA 2K and EA Sports College Football. GTA 5 remains popular, but that is almost entirely down to its online multiplayer mode rather than the single-player content.
Top 20 shows little change
Expanding the charts to the top 20 makes little difference. There is only one pure single-player game on the Xbox chart – Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced in 14th place – and the PlayStation chart has no single-player games whatsoever.
The data includes PlayStation 5 exclusive fighting game Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, which isn't out until August 6, so its appearance is due solely to the recent beta. It reached 17th place, charting above Battlefield 6 and Dead By Daylight, but it benefitted from being completely free.
Marvel Tōkon's beta was the only new addition to break into the top 20 on the PlayStation side, while the Xbox chart saw a new co-op horror game called Shift At Midnight, also at number 17.
Summer drought and industry trends
The data covers the middle of the traditional summer games drought, but things aren't generally much different at other times of the year. Last year, it was reported that most US gamers were playing at least one of the top live service games regularly, highlighting how players nowadays don't hop between as many different games as they used to.
Most of the popular live service titles have been around for close to a decade. This informs why some bigger publishers are acting the way they are. EA, for example, is expected to further monetise its sports games, and it already sells an extra expensive Ultimate Plus Edition of EA Sports FC 27 alongside the regular Ultimate Edition. EA also added microtransactions to EA Sports College Football 27's single-player modes, but removed them after fan backlash.
Xbox boss Asha Sharma has stated in a memo that she wants to make Minecraft 'the world's creator platform,' which sounds like a bid to turn it into the company's own Roblox. Considering Roblox is charting higher than Minecraft, you can understand why Sharma is taking this approach.
