For the first time since 2008, Call of Duty has been dethroned as the best-selling game of the year in America. The shooter-franchise has had an impressive reign, but according to data published by Circana, Hogwarts Legacy took the top spot in 2023, proving that magic is more powerful than guns. Although I still think a sniper rifle would have solved the Voldemort problem much more effectively.

The ranking is based on dollar sales, and we do need to keep in mind that Hogwarts Legacy was also on sale far longer than Call of Duty and quite a few of the other titles, which can make a big difference.

While we don’t know the exact numbers, the last we heard Hogwarts Legacy had sold a staggering 22 million copies. It was also revealed to be the best-selling boxed game in the UK as well.

Second place went to the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, reminding us all that even the worst Call of Duty in a while will still sell like crazy. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 also managed to snag the 7th spot on the list, despite it being a 2022 release. Microsoft will undoubtedly be happy to see those numbers considering they now own the Call of Duty series.

There’s also something of a question mark lurking in 5th place. Nintendo doesn’t report its digital sales data to Circana, meaning The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom managed to secure its position based purely on physical sales. Compared to the other consoles, the Nintendo Switch still has a lot of people who like to buy physical. Indeed, Nintendo’s own data suggests around a 50/50 split at the moment, though that was somewhat skewed by the higher-than-normal ratio of people The point is, with digital data included, Tears of the Kingdom could be much higher up the board, perhaps even rivalling or beating Call of Duty and Hogwarts Legacy.

Also worth noting is the divisive Starfield. While there has been a divide in terms of player feedback, Microsoft will surely be happy with the game’s performance in terms of numbers as it managed to secure the 10th spot on the board. Considering it was available on Game Pass as soon as it launched, that’s some impressive sales stats.

Mortal Kombat 1 also beat out its fighting-game rival Street Fighter 6. I find that interesting because the hardcore fighting community seem to agree that Street Fighter 6 is the better game. I can only assume Mortal Kombat’s gloriously gruesome gameplay has more mainstream appeal.

Finally, there’s on game not on the list: Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s unclear as to why at the moment. It could be that it simply didn’t break the top 20, but that seems unlikely considering its insane popularity and player counts, so the more likely answer is that it’s pretty hard to find reliable sales data on the game. Presumably, Larian doesn’t readily share its data like some other companies.