Circana: The US Gaming Market in January 2026
2026 started strong with the numbers 3% over the January 2025.
Market numbers
In January 2026, Americans spent $4.698 billion on games, up 3% year-over-year.
Game sales grew 3% to $4.266 billion.
On the content side, subscription sales grew the most. In January 2026, they were up 23% YoY.
Console game sales grew 2%, PC game sales grew 1%, mobile was down 1%.
Hardware sales jumped 16% to $248 million.
But that hardware growth was entirely driven by Nintendo Switch 2. PS5 sales fell 17% YoY; Xbox Series S|X dropped 27%. The original Nintendo Switch collapsed 79%.
That said, PS5 was still the top-selling system in January, both by units and revenue, despite the year-over-year decline.
Accessories slipped slightly to $185 million (-5% YoY). The lowest January figure since 2020, when it was $143 million.
Game Sales
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, NBA 2K26, and Madden NFL 26 were the best-selling games of January 2026.
Only one new release cracked the top 20: Code Vein II at #11. On PC, it went straight to #1.
Fallout 4 had a strong sales bump on the back of the successful TV show, returning to the top 20.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade jumped to #9 (from #225!) following its launch on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series S|X.
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The top 5 grossing mobile games: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, and Gossip Harbor.
Platform Charts
PlayStation and Xbox charts are nearly identical, with 7 out of 10 titles overlapping.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade had a strong debut on Nintendo Switch 2, landing at #2. Pokemon Legends: Z-A took the top spot.
As mentioned above, Code Vein II topped the PC chart by revenue.
Fable Anniversary saw a notable sales spike, likely driven by the preview of the new entry in the series and a steep discount.