The Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) and Circana have revealed the 20 best-selling games in Canada in 2025.
Overall, there aren’t many surprises, with staples like Battlefield, Call of Duty and EA Sports titles charting high. See below for the full list:
- Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios/EA)
- NHL 26 (EA Vancouver/EA)
- Monster Hunter: Wilds (Capcom)
- Borderlands 4 (Gearbox Software/2K)
- EA Sports FC 26 (EA Vancouver/EA)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (Treyarch/Raven Software/Activision)
- NBA 2K26 (Visual Concepts/2K)
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Virtuous/Bethesda)
- Ghost of Yōtei (Sucker Punch Productions/PlayStation)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios/Plaion)
- Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios/EA)
- Minecraft (Mojang/Xbox)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Raven Software/Activision)
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Game Freak/Nintendo)
- Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox)
- Elden Ring: Nightreign (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Civilization VII (Firaxis/2K)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games/2K)
- Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games/2K)
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
First, it should be noted that several of these games are either primarily or partially developed by Canadian teams:
- Battlefield 6 — Battlefield Studios is a cohort of four global developers (DICE, Criterion, Ripple Effect and Montreal-based Motive, the last of which spearheaded the campaign)
- NHL 26 and EA Sports FC 26 — EA Vancouver
- Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and 7 — Quebec City-based Beenox assisted development and spearheaded the PC ports
- Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 — Rockstar Toronto in Oakville, Ont. assisted development
“Canadian-made games continue to sell well here at home, which is a testament to the talent of our development community,” ESAC president and CEO Paul Fogolin tells MobileSyrup. Other key takeaways he points out include “deep RPGs” like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Oblivion Remastered and Monster Hunter: Wilds and sports titles like EA Sports FC, NHL and NBA 2K continuing to perform well.
Call of Duty dethroned
Otherwise, perhaps the most notable thing here is that Battlefield 6 claimed the top spot, which has historically been held by first-person shooter rival Call of Duty. This can likely be attributed to a combination of factors, including significant time having passed since 2021’s Battlefield 2042 versus the annualized Call of Duty releases and the poor reception to Black Ops 7. Indeed, Black Ops 7 placed sixth overall, a marked drop from Black Ops 6 charting first last year.
Beyond that, it’s not surprising to see the latest NHL and EA Sports FC titles in the top 5 once again, nor is it a shock that Monster Hunter Wilds, following Capcom’s massively popular Monster Hunter World, did so well. And of course, Borderlands has always been popular, even if the 2024 movie was panned, so the long-awaited fourth game doing well makes sense.
It’s also worth singling out Xbox’s Forza Horizon 5 and Oblivion Remastered. The former game charting four years after it originally launched on Xbox and PC was driven by its PS5 port, which has already passed an impressive five million copies sold. In a similar vein, Oblivion Remastered came to Xbox, PC and PS5 at the same time, which certainly helped its sales. It’s a testament to the increasing importance of once-exclusive games becoming multiplatform, and it helps explain Microsoft’s push to bring pretty much its entire catalogue to PlayStation.
“The strong placing of Forza Horizon 5 and Oblivion Remastered show that Microsoft’s decision to release titles on new platforms is paying off,” says Fogolin. He also notes that the return placement of GTA V and Minecraft, as well as the inclusion of Red Dead Redemption II, shows how older multiplatform games continue to remain popular even several years after they originally debuted.
The year ahead
Looking ahead throughout 2026, some of the biggest releases include Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem (Feb. 27), PlayStation’s Marvel’s Wolverine (late 2026), Xbox’s undated Gears of War: E-Day (hailing from Vancouver’s The Coalition) and Remedy’s Control Resonant (TBA 2026). It should be noted that while Rockstar Games does have Grand Theft Auto VI slated for November 19, the game has been delayed multiple times and, as a result, there’s a lot of skepticism that it will indeed make this year.
Naturally, Fogolin says he’s looking forward to this year’s Canadian releases, which include Gears of War: E-Day and the next annualized EA Sports FC and NHL titles. He also shouted out Assassin’s Creed Hexe, which Ubisoft has teased before as part of its wider “Animus Hub” (formerly known as Infinity) of Assassin’s Creed games. While we don’t know much about Hexe so far, rumours suggest it will be set in 16th-century Europe and focus on witch hunts and other paranormal fears. Notably, prolific Canadian director Clint Hocking, who worked on Ubisoft games like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion, is also directing Hexe.
And on a broader level, Fogolin says ESAC has several plans to continue highlighting the Canadian gaming industry, following its 20th anniversary celebrations last year. (Disclaimer: MobileSyrup partnered with ESAC on one of those, a contest to win gift cards in exchange for voting for your favourite Canadian game.)
“We’ll be elevating the stories of Canadian creators and studios across the country and welcoming more elected officials into our studios to see firsthand the world-class work being done here at home,” says Fogolin.
“I’ll also be engaging a broad range of audiences — from our traditional industry and policy forums to new platforms and communities — to reinforce a simple message: Canada is at the forefront of one of the most dynamic and globally successful entertainment industries in the world.”
Image credit: EA
