Video game sales in the United States have fallen nearly 10% year over year.
In a new report from Circana—relayed by Mat Piscatella—sales data for August 2026 paints an overall downward trend in video game spending, though it’s not as bad as it might initially look.
Game Sales Still Were In The Billions
In August 2026, year-over-year sales fell 9% in total. That accounts for a $407 million drop from August 2025, though sales still were an impressive $4.26 billion.
As far as where the decline came from, data shows that mobile spending was the largest culprit, falling 18%. Console spending also fell 7% in that time. Where it increased, however, was PC spending, which was up 7%, and subscription spending, which increased 3%.
Video game hardware fell 3% to $302 million. For the year, spending is also 11% behind 2025’s pace, but that can be attributed to the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, creating greater demand.
Looking at specific systems, PlayStation hardware sales fell 11%, making it the lowest August total since 2013. But despite the drop, PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales increased by 17% due to the inflated prices of the systems. Xbox Series hardware sales fell 31%; Switch, down 15%.
Despite that fall for the Switch 2 in dollars, it was still the best-selling hardware in both unit and dollar sales for August 2026. It also remains the best-selling console year-to-date. PlayStation 5 is second in both categories.
What do you think the latest video game sales data says about where things are going? Let us know down in the comments and in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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