These Were the Top 10 Best-Selling Games in India in 2025
Shift happens.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been speaking to game retailers, sources in the supply chain, publishers, and industry insiders to understand what were India’s best-selling games of 2025. None of them were willing to go on record fearing retribution however their insights match market trends — the PS5 and to an extent, Nintendo Switch dominated retail with next to no Xbox Series X|S sales. And yes, physical games still make up around half of the sales (not a bad thing given how some platforms are making silent heel turns).
That said, Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows were two of the best-selling games in India in 2025. While this should come no surprise given how well they sold globally, the rest of the list isn’t as predictable. Following a slump after being rebranded as EA FC from FIFA, EA’s football series had steady sales through the year as well along with Battlefield 6 which was easily the best-selling shooter.
Also of note is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game never made it here officially, sales volumes via parallel and grey imports were strong enough to have it round off the top 5. Retailers I spoke to claimed demand was solid through the year thanks to its almost universal critical acclaim (while I may disagree on its quality, the game has done well enough commercially to warrant an official release just a month ago).
Safe to say the void between official imports and demand has regularly been filled by an efficient parallel import system that supply independent retailers that make up around 50 percent of all console game sales in the country.
While Ghost of Yotei, Assassin’s Shadows, EA FC 26, Battlefield 6, and Expedition 33 round off the top 5 at retail, the bottom half of the list suggests a shift of sorts with Elden Ring Nightreign, Mafia: The Old Country, Stalker 2, Cricket 26, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A (majority of the sales being on the Nintendo Switch 1).
In terms of pre-orders Assassin’s Creed Shadows was far and away the biggest, in part largely due to having a longer pre-order window. Though in terms of sales, Ghost of Yotei had it beat, clocking in over 50,000 units sold at retail in its first three months. Industry estimates put digital and physical sales at roughly 1:1, safe to say with another 50,000 via PS Store, and Sony’s open-world samurai slasher would have moved round 100,000 units. Turns out actually marketing your game helps immensely.
More interesting is the proliferation of RPGs in the top 10. India tends to buck the global trend on the genre. Traditionally, we’re not a large market for RPGs, though that’s slowly been changing with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 proving a rabid audience exists.
Hopefully Expedition 33 supercharges the space what with its year one sales equalling Square Enix’s best despite selling mainly via parallel imports. Subgenres like soulslikes continue to be dependable sellers only if they’re called ‘Elden Ring’. While Nightreign did well, Hell is Us and The First Berserker: Khazan were only able to clear their initial order quantities.
The same can’t be said of Stalker 2. According to multiple store owners, the physical version has exceeded expectations on the PS5 particularly due to the ridiculously high PC specifications and Xbox exclusivity. Turns out a lot of Indian gamers wanted to see what the fuss was about.
And while Cricket 26 and Pokemon Legends: Z-A rounded off the top 10, they didn’t perform as well as anticipated. Cricket 26 sales were lower than Cricket 24 by about 15 to 20 percent and that’s despite Cricket 24 being bundled with PS5 consoles at the time. Sources in the supply chain say a combination of an absolute lack of marketing and more options made it a tough sell in a cricket crazy market.
As for Pokemon? While its publisher Nintendo doesn’t have an official presence (despite hiring a CEO — it’s yet to decide on a distributor for India between Redington and Ingram Micro) the high price courtesy the volatile INR to USD rate tanked any prospects of it charting higher.
India’s Top 10 Best-Selling Games of 2025: Full List
Ghost of Yotei
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
EA FC 26
Battlefield 6
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Elden Ring Nightreign
Mafia: The Old Country
Cricket 26
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Stalker 2
There’s more in this dispatch, courtesy my podcast, Day Zero, which I host with the affable Rahul Majumdar.
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