Shadow-dropped Oblivion Remastered takes April’s crown | Circana

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was the best-selling game of April, according to industry-tracking firm Circana. Virtuos’s rebuild of one of the most popular RPGs of all time sold at least four million within four days of launch. Overall video game sales were still down compared to last April, but the drop isn’t as drastic as it was in both March and February.

“18% year-on-year growth in April non-mobile subscription spending and a 16% gain in Console digital premium downloads were offset by declines across other content segments,” said Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive producer for games reports. “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered was the best-selling game of the month, instantly becoming the 3rd best-selling game of 2025 year-to-date. It was the best-selling title across each of the PlayStation, Xbox and PC platforms.”

Sales were not as far in the red as they have been in previous months, though this is likely because sales had already plummeted fairly low both in this year and the previous one. The April 2024 sales ($203 million) were lower than those of March 2025 ($286 million).

Piscatella added, “April hardware spending fell by 8% when compared to a year ago, to $186M. It was the lowest monthly hardware dollar sales total reached in the US market since July 2020 ($163M). PlayStation 5 dollar sales declined 5% in April compared to a year ago, but the platform once again led the hardware market in both dollar and unit sales. Switch hardware spending fell 37% in April vs YA, while Xbox Series grew 8%.”

Circana April 2025: Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.

Oblivion Remastered is the obvious winner of April 2025, reaching the top spots on every platform on which it was launched. It also reached the top 10 games played by monthly active users on both Xbox and Steam. Nintendo’s sales charts didn’t have the pleasure of hosting Oblivion — the only new game to rank in digital data sales for the reporting period was The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s strategy of releasing its former console exclusives onto PlayStation seems to be paying off, at least in terms of sales. Both Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle jumped up to top 10 on the bestseller list from positions 46 and 118 respectively. This coincides with the release of both games on PlayStation 5, and both were in the top 10 best-selling list for that platform.

Circana April 2025: 20 best-selling games of 2024 so far

Oblivion Remastered also made a splash on the year-to-date charts, going up to third place on the charts thanks to its brand recognition and existing player goodwill from its original launch. Meanwhile, Forza Horizon 5 has also risen up the ranks from 48th place to 13th, following the aforementioned launch on PlayStation 5.