New Circana data shows U.S. video game spending fell 21% year-over-year to $4.5 billion USD in June 2026. Mat Piscatella published the results on July 22 2026, with mobile spending figures supplied by Sensor Tower. The decline came against Nintendo Switch 2’s record June 2025 launch, when the console sold 1.6 million units in the U.S. and set an all-time hardware launch-month unit-sales record.
June’s monthly drop was much larger than the first-half result. U.S. spending reached $27.5 billion USD through July 4 2026, only 1% behind the same period in 2025. Subscription spending rose 7% and was the only content segment to grow, while XBOX Series console sales increased 86% even though the platform ranked third in units and dollars.
June 2026 Was Up Against Nintendo Switch 2’s Record Launch
Hardware spending reached $383 million USD in June 2026, down 62% from the $1.0 billion USD generated in June 2025. Nintendo Switch 2’s launch accounted for much of that earlier total. That record launch is the main reason the year-over-year drop is so large.
Nintendo Switch 2 hardware spending fell 79% against its launch month, but the console still ranked first in units and dollars for June 2026. It also remained first in both measures for the year to date. PlayStation 5 ranked second in units and dollars, with its hardware spending falling 19% year-over-year.
The Nintendo Switch 2 installed base remained 11% ahead of Nintendo Switch after the same amount of time in the U.S. market. June 2026 hardware spending was also higher than the $289 million USD recorded in June 2024, although it remained below June 2023’s $456 million USD result.
The first-half figures were much closer to 2025. One record launch month had a much larger effect on the monthly percentage than it did on the year so far.
Subscriptions Rose As Other Content Segments Fell
Video game content spending fell 12% year-over-year to $3.9 billion USD in June 2026. First-half content spending reached $24.3 billion USD, finishing almost exactly level with the same period in 2025.
Subscriptions were the only content segment to increase during June, rising 7% year-over-year. Mobile and console content accounted for most of the overall decline.
Circana’s content category includes physical and digital full-game spending, downloadable content, microtransactions and subscriptions across console, cloud, mobile, portable, PC and VR platforms. It doesn’t separate cloud gaming revenue inside the subscription total, so the 7% increase can’t be treated as a measurement of cloud gaming growth.
Subscription spending moved in the opposite direction from the rest of the content category, but Circana’s figure covers far more than cloud gaming.
EA Sports UFC 6 Ranked First In June
EA Sports UFC 6 debuted as June 2026’s best-selling game in the U.S. based on full-game dollar spending. It also ranked first on PlayStation platforms.
Meccha Chameleon debuted in second based on projected full-game dollar sales. 007 First Light moved from first in May to third in June. Star Fox debuted in fourth and ranked first on Nintendo platforms, finishing ahead of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and Mario Kart World for the month.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight completed the top five. Circana’s monthly chart covers physical and full-game digital dollar sales from May 31 2026 through July 4 2026. Mobile spending and digital add-on content aren’t included.
Resident Evil: Requiem remained the best-selling game of 2026 through June, followed by Crimson Desert. 007 First Light moved into third ahead of MLB The Show 26.
Top 10 Best Sellers Show Mixed Cloud Availability
Here’s a closer look at June 2026’s top 10 U.S. best-sellers and where you can play them in the cloud.
| Rank | Game | Cloud Gaming Availability | Cloud Dosage Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EA Sports UFC 6 | Not available | Review |
| 2 | Meccha Chameleon | Boosteroid, GeForce NOW, airgpu, CloudDeck, Shadow PC | |
| 3 | 007 First Light | Boosteroid, GeForce NOW, PlayStation Cloud Gaming, XBOX Cloud Gaming, airgpu, CloudDeck, Shadow PC | Review |
| 4 | Star Fox | Not available | Review |
| 5 | LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight | Boosteroid, PlayStation Cloud Gaming, XBOX Cloud Gaming, airgpu, CloudDeck, Shadow PC | |
| 6 | Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream | Not available | Review |
| 7 | Forza Horizon 6 | Boosteroid, GeForce NOW, XBOX Cloud Gaming, airgpu, CloudDeck, Shadow PC | Review |
| 8 | MLB The Show 26 | PlayStation Cloud Gaming, XBOX Cloud Gaming | Review |
| 9 | Minecraft | airgpu, Shadow PC | |
| 10 | NBA 2K26 | Boosteroid, PlayStation Cloud Gaming, XBOX Cloud Gaming, airgpu, CloudDeck, Shadow PC | Review |
Seven of June’s 10 best-selling games are currently playable through at least one cloud gaming or cloud-PC service listed by Cloud Dosage. EA Sports UFC 6, Star Fox, and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream are the three exceptions.
Access differs considerably among the other seven games. 007 First Light is available across several managed cloud services and cloud-PC options, while Minecraft is currently limited to airgpu and Shadow PC.
XBOX Series Console Sales Rose 86%
XBOX Series console sales increased 86% year-over-year, while hardware spending more than doubled. June was also its strongest month of 2026 so far for consoles sold.
The average selling price for XBOX Series hardware was 13% higher than it was in June 2025. Console sales therefore increased alongside higher average pricing, but the Circana data doesn’t establish pricing as the cause.
XBOX Series still ranked third in both units and dollars, behind Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. XBOX Series improved sharply from June 2025, but Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 remained ahead in consoles sold and hardware spending.
Piscatella said XBOX price increases and Nintendo Switch 2’s launch combined to make June 2025 a difficult comparison for XBOX.
Mobile Rankings Stayed Put As Accessories Fell
Sensor Tower’s 10 highest-grossing mobile games in the U.S. were unchanged from May 2026. MONOPOLY GO! remained first, followed by Royal Match, Candy Crush Saga, Gossip Harbor and Kingshot. Last War: Survival, Whiteout Survival, Township, Royal Kingdom and Garena Free Fire completed the list.
Last War: Survival revenue fell 13.8% month-over-month. Game of Thrones: Dragon Fire also launched globally during June and entered the top five strategy games by U.S. downloads. That ranking is based on downloads rather than consumer spending.
Accessories spending fell 21% year-over-year to $232 million USD. Gamepad spending dropped 31%, with spending on Nintendo platform controllers down 76% against the Nintendo Switch 2 launch comparison.
Nintendo Switch 2’s record launch month drove much of June 2026’s 21% decline. Total spending fell sharply, but the first half of 2026 remained close to last year. Subscriptions increased, XBOX Series sold more consoles and Nintendo Switch 2 remained the best-selling hardware platform one year after its record U.S. launch.
