Of all the platforms, Xbox is the only one to have just grown year-on-year – but there’s a big catch
Circana's June 2026 US games market report shows a broad decline in industry spending, down 21% year-on-year to $4.5bn, largely because June 2025 was an exceptionally high baseline thanks to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. Xbox was the only hardware platform to post growth, with Series X/S spending more than doubling year-on-year, though this mainly reflects how weak Xbox sales were in the prior comparison period rather than a genuine resurgence. The six-month spending pace is only 1% behind last year, and with Grand Theft Auto 6 and other big titles due later in 2026, the industry may still recover much of the shortfall.
Hardware spending fell 62% overall, with Switch 2 down 79% from its record-breaking June 2025 launch month, while PS5 dropped a more modest 19%, an improvement on May's 58% decline. Switch 2 remained the best-selling platform by units and dollars in June and year-to-date, with PS5 second. On the software side, UFC 6 was June's top new release, followed by Meccha Chameleon (estimated 4m+ copies sold) and Star Fox; overall game content spending fell 12%, while subscriptions were the only segment to grow, up 7%.
In short
- US game industry spending fell 21% year-on-year in June 2026
- Xbox hardware spending "grew" but only due to a weak 2025 baseline
- Switch 2 and PS5 hardware both declined from last year's launch-boosted figures
Explained simply
Circana tracks spending on video games in the United States, including consoles, games and subscriptions. June 2025 was an unusually strong month because Nintendo launched the Switch 2, so year-on-year comparisons start from a high point.
The main console makers are Nintendo, Sony, which sells PlayStation, and Microsoft, which sells Xbox. Xbox’s higher spending compared with a year earlier reflects very low sales in that earlier period; Nintendo’s Switch 2 still led console sales in June.
These figures show how spending changes over time, but one month does not establish a lasting trend. The six-month total was close to last year’s, and major games due later in 2026 may affect the market’s performance.
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