US physical game sales drop to lowest monthly total since 1995 | US Monthly Charts

In July, US physical software sales took a dip to $85 million, marking the lowest monthly figure recorded since 1995, when Circana first began tracking.

While Sony plans to cease production of physical software for new games from January 2028, PlayStation still commanded 32% of consumer spending on new physical games. Meanwhile, Nintendo platforms dominated with a 63% share of physical game spending.

According to Mat Piscatella of Circana, seven PlayStation games have individually sold over 100,000 physical units in the US to date. However, only two games managed to surpass 10,000 units sold during the week ending July 11.

Hardware spending saw a 29% year-over-year decline to $282 million in July, the lowest total for that month since 2020 when it hit $163 million.

Even though total hardware unit sales dropped by 39% year-over-year, the average selling price surged by 16% to $542 due to price hikes for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch consoles.

The highly successful launch of the Switch 2 in June continued to impact hardware sales, alongside persistent RAM and component shortages.

Piscatella pointed out that this situation has notably affected the sales rates of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, with a price increase for Nintendo Switch 2 hardware scheduled for September 1.

Hardware unit sales decreased across all platforms: PS5 by 6%, Xbox Series by 18%, and Switch 2 by 51%. Despite the significant decline, Switch 2 led in units sold for July, while PS5 led in revenue.

After being in the market for 14 months, the Switch maintained an 11% lead over the sales pace of the original Nintendo Switch at the same point.

Total video game spending, encompassing content, hardware, and accessories, fell by 10% year-over-year to $4.5 billion in July, despite the presence of six new releases in the Top 10.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 secured the top spot in July’s charts, buoyed by the release of the PS4 and PS5 port. The original Black Ops also received a port and ranked 5th.

EA Sports College Football 27 claimed the second position in terms of full-dollar sales. Circana noted that combining its sales with the EA Sports MVP Bundle (2026) would have placed it ahead of Black Ops 2.

Other new releases in July included Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Splatoon Raiders, and Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online.

Content spending witnessed a 9% decline to $4.1 billion, primarily due to reduced mobile spending. However, Pokémon Go surged to third place, with revenue soaring by 230% month-over-month following its 10th anniversary celebrations.

During its 10th anniversary week, Pokémon Go reportedly generated over $48.5 million in in-app purchase revenue, coinciding with the Road to Legends event from July 6 to July 12.

The event featured rotating raids of legendary Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, Mega-Evolved Pokémon, and additional unlocks leading up to Pokémon Go Fest: Global.

Here are the projected top 10 best-selling games from the period of July 5 to August 8, 2026, data courtesy of Circana:

* Includes Digital Sales Projections