Microsoft has stopped sharing digital sales data for its Xbox, Activision and Bethesda games with Circana, the US analytics firm formerly known as NPD, meaning the tracker will now have to estimate rather than report exact figures for Microsoft titles. This reduces the accuracy of publicly available industry sales data and raises questions about transparency, particularly as it follows a period of declining Xbox console sales.

Circana compiles monthly best-seller charts using digital sales data voluntarily supplied by publishers such as Sony and Bandai Namco, combined with retailer figures. Microsoft's withdrawal, effective from the July report, puts it alongside Nintendo and Take-Two, which have long withheld such data; Circana has begun using estimated figures to fill these gaps. Microsoft has also ceased sharing data with the European tracker GSD, and commentators speculate other publishers, such as PlayStation, could follow suit in future.