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Live-service games are a large and durable part of the gaming ecosystem, and new data from last month demonstrates just how dominant the biggest games have become. A new report from Circana stated that more than 40% of all playing time spent on a PS5 or Xbox Series X went to the top 10 live-service games in the month of January in the US.

Posting on Bluesky, Circana executive director Mat Piscatella also stated that over 70% of active PS5 or Xbox Series X|S players played at least one of the top 10 live-service games during January in the US. While that might constitute a player simply launching the game and playing something else, the more than 40% number is quite staggering, and shows just how much gaming is divided between a relatively small number of games.

Piscatella noted that this statistic reflects the difficulty that new games have in competing against the old stalwarts, especially since total US market spending, total players, and total hours all peaked in 2021. Though the names of these top 10 live-service games were not immediately apparent in the report, recent charts posted by Piscatella suggest that the games include Call of Duty HQ, Fortnite, GTA V, NBA 2K25, Marvel Rivals, Roblox, Minecraft, Madden NFL 25 as possible contenders. Other live-service games that often make the console top 10 include EA Sports College Football 25, Destiny 2, Apex Legends, and Rocket League.

The stunning success of these live-service games has had a significant impact on the games market as a whole, with many big publishers fishing for a big live-service success to bank on in the future. This has also led to some major busts, most notably Sony's sci-fi shooter Concord, which lasted just two weeks before being shut down due to low player count. The studio behind the game was later shuttered. Earlier this month, Ubisoft said that it will double down on live-service and open-world games moving forward.