Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: June 29 - July 3 (2026)
Circana shared the US market report on May; King delivered a report of the impact of mobile games in Europe in 2025.
Reports of the week:
Circana: The U.S. Gaming Market in May’26
Games and Numbers (June 17 - June 30, 2026)
King: The Impact of Mobile Games in Europe in 2025
Circana: The U.S. Gaming Market in May’26
Market Overview
In May 2026, U.S. consumers spent $4.2 billion on video games - up 3% year-over-year. The growth was driven by 007 First Light and the Nintendo Switch 2.
Through the first five months, total spending rose 4% YoY to $23 billion.
Content spending grew 1% YoY in May, reaching $3.8 billion. Year-to-date, content spending is 3% ahead of last year, at $20.4 billion.
The console segment was the main driver of content growth in May, with spending up 25% YoY. Through five months, console content revenue is up 13%. PC content (+15% YoY) and subscriptions (+11%) also grew in May.
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Hardware spending climbed 38% YoY to $249 million. The Nintendo Switch 2 offset a 43% decline in PlayStation 5 dollar sales (and an even steeper 58% drop in units) following recent price increases. Xbox Series S|X spending rose 7% YoY, though units fell 12%.
❗️ Expect a decline next month. June will be the first time Circana’s data includes a comparable Switch 2 launch month, meaning the count will now run against last year’s high base.
The Nintendo Switch 2 was once again the leader in both units sold and revenue - in May and year-to-date for 2026. The PlayStation 5 ranked second on both measures across both periods.
In its first year on the market, the Nintendo Switch 2 sold 5.9 million units in the U.S. That makes it the second fastest-selling gaming device in the history of the U.S. market (data tracked since 1995). Only the Game Boy Advance sold better (6.5 million units in 12 months).
PlayStation, on the other hand, posted its weakest May in unit sales since May 2000. Xbox unit sales were the weakest for any May on record.
The average price of a new piece of gaming hardware reached $502 in May, which is up 14% from a year ago ($440). The average PlayStation 5 price rose 33% YoY to $672, and Xbox Series climbed 22% to $524.
Accessories spending grew 8% YoY to $168 million.
Sales of racing wheels and accessories surged 95% YoY on the back of Forza Horizon 6’s launch. The best-selling wheel of May was the Logitech G29 Driving Force Racing Wheel.
Game Sales
❗️ Since spring 2026, Circana has published its charts as projected estimates (Projected Top 10) for physical and full-game digital sales (excluding mobile and in-game content).
007 First Light was the best-selling game of May in the U.S. The title topped the May chart on PlayStation and debuted in 4th place in year-to-date sales across all platforms.
007 First Light posted the best launch of any James Bond game, counting its first month of sales.
Forza Horizon 6 was the second best-selling game of the month. It led May full-game sales on both Xbox and PC. In the five-month chart, the game ranks 5th.
Through the first five months of 2026, Resident Evil: Requiem holds onto first place in sales.
On mobile (data from Sensor Tower; rank change from April in parentheses), the top 10 by revenue features the same familiar titles: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Candy Crush Saga (+1), Gossip Harbor (+1), Kingshot (+1), Last War: Survival (-3), Whiteout Survival, Township, Royal Kingdom, and Garena Free Fire.
Last War: Survival dropped three spots to 6th, with revenue down 30% month-over-month. The decline followed the publisher’s pause of its U.S. ad spend in mid-April. The reason behind that decision has not been disclosed.
Among mobile newcomers, Clash of Critters by Farlight Games stands out.
Games and Numbers (June 17 - June 30, 2026)
PC/Console
Black Myth: Wukong by Game Science has passed 30 million copies sold. Almost half of those sales came from China.
Meccha Chameleon by Japanese solo developer lemorion_1224 sold over 10 million copies in 16 days after release. Peak CCU hit 209.7k - the game entered the top 100 most popular titles in Steam history. It’s a co-op hide-and-seek game where players blend into the environment using paint.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader by Owlcat Games reached 2 million copies sold. Per Gamalytic, around 1.3 million copies were sold on Steam.
Paralives by Paralives Studio sold over 1 million copies in a month after release. That’s 10 times the studio’s plan, according to the studio. 900 thousand copies were sold in the first 15 days.
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SAND: Raiders of Sophie by Hologryph and TowerHaus (published by tinyBuild) sold over 200 thousand copies in a week and earned more than $2 million in the first five days. The launch was marred by DDoS attacks - its Steam rating dropped to 55%.
KIBORG by Sobaka Studio sold over 100k copies in just over a year after its release.
The controversial title Horses by Santa Ragione sold 30,000 copies and brought in $100k, so it has begun to recoup costs. The surreal horror was banned from Steam and the Epic Games Store and launched on itch.io, GOG, and the Humble Store.
Kiosk vendor simulator I Have no Change by Studio Rassvet gathered over 600 thousand wishlists, ranking 121st among Steam’s most anticipated games. Release is expected in 2027.
The electronics repair simulator ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs by Mandragora and tinyBuild was wishlisted 500,000 times. Release is planned for summer 2026.
Mobile
Rush Royale by MY.GAMES earned over $500 million in five and a half years after launch. The game was downloaded 105 million times in that period.
Platforms
Epic Games has paid content creators over $1 billion through Unreal Editor for Fortnite since its launch in March 2023. In May 2026, creator-built islands accounted for 47% of all playtime in Fortnite, up from 35% a year earlier.
King: The Impact of Mobile Games in Europe in 2025
The report was commissioned by King in the context of upcoming mobile games regulation in Europe. It’s meant to highlight the scale and importance of European developers’ economic contribution.
Based on an economic analysis by Nordicity (covering 1,000+ mobile studios across 32 European countries, using Sensor Tower data), plus a survey of 1,500+ young people aged 16-21 in the UK, Spain and Sweden. The report also draws on figures from Newzoo and the ESA for the global and European games markets.
Data was collected from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Mobile Games in the World and in Europe
In 2025, the global games market reached €167.26 billion. Mobile games account for more than half the market - €91.25 billion (55%). Console - €40.66 billion (24%), PC - €35.35 billion (21%).
Over 300 million people across Europe played on smartphones or tablets in 2025 - 61% of the region’s active players.
97% of European mobile gamers play F2P games - more than 320 million people.
The average player age in Europe is 31, and 75% of players are adults.
Mobile publishers in Europe spend 41% of their annual budget on player acquisition and retention - competition for audience attention keeps rising, even as download numbers fall.
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Economic Impact for Europe
European mobile companies generated €7.53 billion in revenue in 2025 from players worldwide. By 2028, that figure should top €8 billion (CAGR - 2.2%).
According to Nordicity, Europe’s mobile games studios contributed €5.89 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy in 2025 and supported 63,340 jobs.
❗️Nordicity calculated GVA based on companies’ expenditure (wages, UA spend, other in-country costs) rather than operating profit. By the authors’ own admission, this is a deliberately conservative methodology.
For EU countries, the numbers are a bit more modest - €5.2 billion in GVA and 50,330 jobs.
By 2028, GVA is expected to grow to €6.17 billion (+4.8%).
More than 1,000 mobile studios operate in Europe, employing over 30,000 people.
Revenue by Geography
Top 5 markets by revenue in 2025: Finland (€1.4 billion), UK (€895 million), Ireland (€868 million), Spain (€722 million), Sweden (€630 million).
Revenue looks a bit different when weighed against the size of a country’s economy - Cyprus, Serbia and Ukraine punch above their overall economic weight.
Social Impact
King surveyed more than 1,500 young people aged 16-21 in the UK, Spain and Sweden. Almost half play mobile games every day, and 84% play at least once a week.
Those who play mobile games at least once a week are more likely to report confidence in solving technical issues and working with digital tools.
Sea Hero Quest, developed with Alzheimer’s Research UK, collected data from 4.3 million players - helping research into early signs of dementia.