Borderlands 4 Dominates US Sales Charts in September 2025, Ghost of Yotei Matches Tsushima’s COVID-Era Sales Figures

September 2025 Video Game Sales Spotlight

In a recent report from Mat Piscatella, senior director and analyst at Circana, the video game sales landscape for September 2025 has been unveiled. The top five chart reflects a distinct inclination towards sports games, combined with elements of shooting and action, highlighted by the triumphant debut of Borderlands 4 at the top position. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated Ghost of Yotei impressively secured the fourth spot despite launching only on October 2.

Leading Sales Figures

As part of his monthly analysis, Piscatella detailed the best-selling premium games in the US.Borderlands 4 emerged as the most popular title for September, solidifying its place as the third-best-selling premium game of 2025 thus far.Monster Hunter Wilds holds the second position, while cult-favorite NBA 2K26 leads in first place among premium games this year.

The rest of the September top five features a lineup dominated by annual sports titles.NBA 2K26 ranked second, followed closely by EA Sports FC 26 at third.Ghost of Yotei landed at fourth, with Madden NFL 26 completing the list in the fifth position.

September 2025 Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U. S.(Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-10-22T13:00:13.232Z

A Noteworthy Launch: Ghost of Yotei

Despite not reaching the top three, Ghost of Yotei is noteworthy for its sales success, especially considering it achieved this prior to its release. Piscatella noted a comparative stability in Yotei’s numbers relative to Ghost of Tsushima. While this could seem disheartening, it’s essential to recognize the context: during Tsushima’s launch on July 17, 2020, the gaming industry experienced an unprecedented boom due to pandemic lockdowns, which artificially inflated sales figures.

Ghost of Tsushima launched in July 2020 (if you’ll recall, stuff was happening at the time that significantly boosted gaming), and the PS4 installed base at the time was significantly higher than the PS5 is today. Like, anyone with “concern”about this title should be looked at with a side eye.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-10-22T14:08:43.059Z

Notably, Ghost of Yotei ranks 18th among the best-selling premium games in the US for 2025, showcasing a strong start for a console-exclusive title.

Hardware Sales Trends

On the hardware front, the Nintendo Switch 2 maintained its position as the top-selling console in the US, followed by the PlayStation 5. September also marked a significant milestone for the PS5, which surpassed the lifetime install base of its predecessor, the PlayStation 3.

Looking Ahead

Overall, September was a robust month for the US video game market, with total spending on hardware, software, and accessories surging by 10% year-over-year. Upcoming charts for October promise to be intriguing, especially with Ghost of Yotei having a complete sales month and the launch of Battlefield 6 on the horizon.

Despite some familiar critiques, the excitement surrounding Ezo indicates that the joy of gameplay often outweighs such concerns.

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