With 2026 officially underway, an analyst has revealed the most played games Xbox and PlayStation in 2025. Despite only sharing the top five games for Xbox and PlayStation, the new data provides evidence of a trend in the gaming industry: installed live-service games account for the most playtime.
The last 12 months have seen the release of some major games from AAA and indie developers. Titles from smaller development teams, eg Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Made a significant impact on the industry, selling millions of copies. Regarding Sandfall Interactive's game, it also won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025. AAA forward, like games Mario Kart World and Battlefield 6 Attracted millions of players to their respective platforms. These are only the tip of the iceberg until popular games released in 2025. However, while there were plenty of titles worth checking out last year, new data shows that many gamers are continuing to play some of the older games instead.
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The Most Played Games of 2025 on Xbox and PlayStation (via Circana Player Engagement Tracker)
The most played games on PlayStation in 2025
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Fortnite
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Call of Duty
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GTA 5
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Roblox
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Minecraft
The most played games on PlayStation in 2024
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Fortnite
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Call of Duty
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GTA 5
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Roblox
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Minecraft
As revealed by analyst Matt Piscatella at Bluesky, the top five most played games in the US on both Xbox and PlayStation were the same in 2024. This data from Circana Player Engagement Tracker shows how gamers spend the most time playing on PlayStation. Fortnite In 2025. It was later Call of Duty, GTA 5, Robloxand Minecraft. Not only were all five games the same as the 2024 list, but they were also in the same order, suggesting that not much has changed in the last 12 months.
Most played games on Xbox in 2025
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Fortnite
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Call of Duty
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GTA 5
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Minecraft
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Roblox
Most played games on Xbox in 2024
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Call of Duty
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Fortnite
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Minecraft
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GTA 5
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Roblox
While the order was slightly different on Xbox, the games in its top five were the same as on PlayStation. The change was just that Roblox and Minecraft Changed places on the list. When compared to the 2024 Xbox list, all games were the same, only the order was switched around. Posting the information on social media, Piscatella summed up his thoughts by saying, “Things are a little … established … at the top.” It's worth noting that the most played games are “ranked by percentage of active panels played.”
Unfortunately, Piscatella only shared the top five most played games on these platforms for 2025. However, he noted that the full US video game market results from Circana for the past year will be available on January 22, which will give a more comprehensive idea of what gamers will be playing in 2025. Still, the top five shows that popular games continue to be played.
It will be interesting to see how these numbers change next year. There's a good chance some of these games will make the top 5 again, sometime in 2026 GTA 6 launches. Given the hype surrounding the game, it will likely be one of the most popular titles of the year. Time will tell where it will land on the list of most played games for 2026.
