The PlayStation 2025 Download Charts: Xbox Ports and Sports Regimes Rule the Digital Storefront

The Bottom Line: Sony’s 2025 download charts reveal a market driven by seasonal sports cycles and the surprising dominance of Xbox first-party ports. While NBA 2K26 and EA Sports FC 26 predictably sat on the throne, the real story is Forza Horizon 5 outperforming Ghost of Yōtei in Europe—a wake-up call for Sony’s first-party exclusivity strategy.

We’ve been tracking these charts for two decades, and 2025 feels like a transitional year. The "Big Three" certainties in life used to be death, taxes, and Call of Duty topping the charts. But as the 2025 data shows, the landscape is shifting. From the resurgence of Battlefield to the "Green Team" making massive inroads on PlayStation hardware, the status quo is officially under fire.

The Top 10 Downloaded PS5 Games (2025)

Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment

The "Green Team" Invasion: Forza’s European Victory

The most jarring takeaway from this data is Forza Horizon 5’s performance. Seeing an Xbox flagship hit #4 in Europe—beating out Sony’s own Ghost of Yōtei—is a watershed moment. While some will point out that Yōtei lacked a physical-only digital skew or had different release timing, the optics are clear: PlayStation players are hungry for Xbox’s back catalog.

We expect this trend to accelerate. With Avowed and Halo: Campaign Evolved (the rumored remaster) hitting the storefront soon, Microsoft is effectively becoming the most successful third-party publisher on their rival's platform. This validates the "Project Latitude" strategy we've seen brewing at Redmond for the last year.

Call of Duty: The Giant Stumbles?

For the first time in recent memory, a mainline Call of Duty entry failed to crack the Top 5 in either major region. Black Ops 7 settled for 7th place, trailing behind Minecraft and a two-year-old Grand Theft Auto V.

Our analysis suggests "CoD Fatigue" is finally hitting the digital wallet. Between the aggressive monetization and the lukewarm reception to its "Always-On" requirements, Black Ops 7 is underperforming by its own astronomical standards. It’s also facing stiff competition from Battlefield 6, which captured the #2 spot in NA. After the Battlefield 2042 disaster, it seems DICE has finally reclaimed the "Modern Military" crown by returning to the core destruction and squad-play that veterans have missed since BF4.

The MIA List: Where were the Heavy Hitters?

Perhaps more interesting is what’s missing. Despite the hype cycles and "wishlist" stats, several massive titles failed to make the Top 20:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong: The wait continues for it to actually impact the sales charts.
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach: Kojima’s sequel clearly remains a "prestige niche" rather than a mass-market download juggernaut.
• Metal Gear Solid Delta: A sign that the "Remake Fatigue" may be setting in for the Snake Eater faithful.
• Silent Hill F: Horror remains a tough sell against the live-service giants like ARC Raiders.

Final Thoughts: The Live-Service Churn

The presence of ARC Raiders at #8 and #9 is a win for Embark Studios. It proves there is still room for new IP in the extraction shooter space if the gunplay is tight and the visual fidelity is high. Conversely, the "Game of the Year" darling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sitting at #10 in EU but #18 in NA suggests that critical acclaim doesn't always translate to immediate digital volume in the States, where sports and shooters still dictate the meta.

We’ll be watching to see if Grand Theft Auto V ever leaves this list. It’s been 12 years across three console generations; at this point, it’s not a game, it’s a permanent fixture of the PS5 OS.