The gaming landscape might be witnessing a historic shift as 'Hogwarts Legacy' is poised to upset the charts by potentially outselling 'Call of Duty,' a franchise that has dominated U.S. sales since 2009, with the only exceptions being hits from Rockstar Games. 'Hogwarts Legacy' has shown impressive sales, notably on Nintendo Switch, while 'Modern Warfare 3' struggles to keep pace with last year's 'Modern Warfare II' sales figures.

Gaming hardware sales have also experienced a downturn, with a 24% decrease from the previous year, affecting all current-gen consoles. This decline may be partly due to the natural lull after a period of high demand and restocking. Despite this, PS5 has maintained its lead in both unit and dollar sales for the year.

Software sales also saw surprises with several debuts and shifts in ranking, particularly for the 'Super Mario RPG' remake and 'God of War: Ragnarok,' which benefited from Black Friday deals. While 'Call of Duty' seems to be ceding ground this year, the upcoming release of 'Grand Theft Auto 6' might shake up future charts, though official data may be lacking due to reporting changes from Take-Two Interactive.

Is 'Hogwarts Legacy' really outselling 'Call of Duty'?

Yes, 'Hogwarts Legacy' is currently outpacing 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' in year-to-date sales, standing as the second-best-selling game of 2023 thus far and potentially taking the top spot at the year's end for the first time since 2008 that a game outside of the 'Call of Duty' or Rockstar franchises has achieved this.