We know Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has had a rougher year than usual for the series, but now new data is shedding light on just how bad it really has been, at least for a franchise that typically dominates the sales charts.
Mat Piscatella of Circana has posted their data for the best-selling premium games of 2025, ranked by dollar sales. Circana’s data is usually extremely reliable.
The big thing to note that is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ranked just 5th on the list, having managed to jump up two spots since the last update.
Now, 5th place is still very impressive, especially since it launched toward the end of the year, giving it less time to rack up the money. Any normal game would be highly delighted with 5th. However, relative to the rest of the Call of Duty series, this is actually a big decline. This is its lowest ranking since 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War. In fact, Call of Duty always comes 1st or 2nd on the year charts. It has only come 2nd in rare circumstances, such as when Hogwarts Legacy or Red Dead Redemption 2 launched.
Now, there is something to keep in mind with data like this. Since we don’t get actual numbers, we can’t say for certain if Black Ops 7 sold a lot less than previous entries, or if the games above it sold an unusually high amount, or if its both. However, based on circumstantial player numbers, other chart data etc. the evidence points toward Black Ops 7 selling considerably fewer copies than normal.
Of course, we have to consider Game Pass which will almost certainly have eaten up some of the sales. However, Black Ops 6 was also on Game Pass in 2024 and still managed to top the sales for that year.
The big winner of the year was Battlefield 6, a massive success for EA. Its launch could not have been timed better – not only was it a great game, but it also launched at the exact time Call of Duty fumbled.
I was also shocked to see Borderlands 4 taking 3rd place for the year, because it kind of flew under the radar. I never see anyone discussing it. Yet it has clearly been quietly selling copies, which serves as a strong reminder that you can’t always trust what the Internet crowd says about games.
Ghost of Yotei slipped out of the top ten but still did respectably for a platform-exclusive game. I’m pretty sure Sony and Sucker Punch will be happy with that.
I also noted Forza Horizon 5 in 16th, driven almost entirely by its PS5 release. It has allegedly sold 5-million copies on PlayStation, which is absolutely nuts to think about. It is, by far, the best performing Xbox game on PlayStation hardware if you don’t count Call of Duty.
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