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| Call of Duty Black Ops 7, NHL 26, EA Sports FC 25, and Battlefield 6 were among Canada’s top selling video games in 2025. |
By Jon Scarr
The Entertainment Software Association of Canada has shared the official list of the top-selling video games in Canada for 2025, and it paints a pretty clear picture of what kept people playing last year. The list combines familiar heavy hitters, new releases, and a few comfort picks that never seem to leave store shelves.
What jumps out right away is how much of the chart has a Canadian fingerprint on it. Four of the top six games have direct ties to Canadian studios, whether through lead development, major support teams, or long-running work on their series. It is a good reminder that when you load up a big release, there is a decent chance someone at a Canadian studio helped build it.
The rankings also show how important games remain for Canada. ESAC notes that the video game industry contributes over $5.5 billion to Canada’s GDP every year. That is a serious chunk of economic activity tied to the same games you relax with after work or school.
Digital sales are not fully counted here, especially for companies like Nintendo, so this is not the complete picture of what Canadians played. Even so, the chart gives a strong look at what moved physical copies through 2025.
Canada’s Top 20 Games Of 2025
Here is the full top 20 list for 2025 based on Circana and ESAC retail reporting, with the publishers noted. Games with a strong Canadian connection are marked.
- Battlefield 6 – Electronic Arts 🇨🇦
- NHL 26 – Electronic Arts 🇨🇦
- Monster Hunter Wilds – Capcom USA
- Borderlands 4 – Take-Two Interactive
- EA Sports FC 25 – Electronic Arts 🇨🇦
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – Microsoft 🇨🇦
- NBA 2K26 – Take-Two Interactive
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – Microsoft
- Ghost of Yōtei – Sony
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Plaion
- Split Fiction – Electronic Arts
- Minecraft – Multiple manufacturers
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – Microsoft 🇨🇦
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo
- Forza Horizon 5 – Microsoft
- Elden Ring: Nightreign – Bandai Namco
- Civilization VII – Take-Two Interactive
- Red Dead Redemption II – Take-Two Interactive
- Grand Theft Auto V – Take-Two Interactive
- Donkey Kong Bananza – Nintendo
Canadian Work All Over The Chart
The Canadian presence near the top is hard to miss. Battlefield 6, NHL 26, EA Sports FC 25, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 all rely on teams based here, whether that is long-running work on frost-covered rinks, tuning online play, or handling art and engineering support.
If you follow development news, you know many of these series now depend on Canadian studios to keep them moving. Seeing them clustered near the front of the list underlines how important that work has become. When you load up a match in NHL or jump into a Black Ops lobby, there is a good chance Canadian talent helped shape what you are playing.
Even outside the top six, the same pattern keeps going. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 still held a spot at thirteen, and franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption continue to benefit from long-term work at teams across Canada. The list ends up feeling less like “games Canada bought” and more like “games Canadian studios helped push to the front”.
Evergreen Favourites That Refuse To Leave
One of the most interesting things about this chart is how many older games kept selling. Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption II, and Forza Horizon 5 have been around for years, yet they still moved enough copies in 2025 to sit alongside the newest releases.
If you have a comfort game that you reinstall every couple of years, you can probably see yourself in this part of the list. GTA V and Red Dead still offer huge worlds to lose yourself in, and Minecraft continues to be the kind of game you can introduce to someone new without worrying about age or experience. Forza Horizon 5 fills that “jump in for a few races” spot that never really wears out.
These games do not need big launch campaigns anymore. They simply keep finding new players while long-time fans return. It is a good reminder that once a game reaches that comfort spot, it can quietly sit in the charts long after the original release window.
Sports, Shooters, And Massive Worlds Driving 2025
Looking at the full list, three big habits show up: sports, shooters, and sprawling action RPGs.
Sports games remain a core part of Canadian gaming life. NHL 26, EA Sports FC 25, and NBA 2K26 all charted, and that matches how many people treat these games like a yearly ritual. You meet friends online, follow real-world seasons, and keep upgrading your favourite team.
Shooters also kept a strong grip. Battlefield 6 took the top spot, while two different Black Ops games made the cut. If you spent evenings chasing wins in online matches, you helped push those numbers.
Then you have the huge worlds: Monster Hunter Wilds, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Ghost of Yōtei. These are the games you pour hours into, learning routes, tuning builds, and working through long stories. The chart suggests Canadians still love that kind of big commitment when they have the time.
Canadian Gaming Heading Into 2026
The 2025 rankings say a lot about how people in Canada are playing. You see brand-new releases fighting for attention, long-running comfort picks refusing to move, and a strong Canadian presence both on store shelves and inside the studios making these games.
If you played through any of the games on this list last year, you were part of that story. Maybe you jumped into Battlefield 6 for a few intense nights with friends, chipped away at Elden Ring: Nightreign, or finally grabbed a copy of Red Dead Redemption II on sale. However you approached it, you helped shape where the industry goes next.
With a new wave of games already lining up for 2026, it will be interesting to see which ones break through and which comfort picks keep hanging on. For now, this snapshot from ESAC offers a neat look at where Canadian time and money went in 2025.
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