Older Microsoft games got sales boosts thanks to multi-platform launches in April 2024

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that some of its older Xbox and PC games would be released for other game consoles. That strategy seems to have partially paid off, according to the latest video game sales numbers for the US in April 2024.

Mat Piscatella of the research firm Circana posted the top 20 video games for sales from April 7 to May 4 on his X account. It showed that Sea of Thieves, from developer Rare, was in fourth place on the list. The game was released for the PlayStation 5 console on April 30.

Another older game, Grounded, from developer Obsidian, was the 12th best-selling game in April, according to Cirana. It was launched for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on April 16, along with its final free content update.

Stellar Blade, the PS5-exclusive title, was the number one best-selling game in the US in April, followed by Helldivers 2 for the PS5 and PC in second place. Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was in third place in US video game sales.

The success of the Fallout TV show on Amazon Prime Video also led to big sales boosts for Fallout games in the US in April. Circana says Fallout 4 was the best-selling game last month, while the online title Fallout 76 came in at number 8 on the list.

Piscatalla also posted the numbers for other Fallout games that saw sales increases in April in the US, again thanks to the popularity of the Fallout show.

Overall, Circana says that US video game sales in April 2024 were $4.096 billion, down by 3 percent from April 2023 numbers of $4.202. While game sales were up slightly, the overall numbers were down due to a 4 percent decrease for game accessories and a huge 43 percent drop in hardware (console) sales.

So far, in 2024, the overall video game market in the US is up by 4 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Again, increases in-game sales and accessories were offset by a big 28 percent decrease in hardware sales.