Game On: Switch 2 surpasses 2M units sold in U.S. life-to-date

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: This week’s biggest new video game release is Take-Two’s (TTWO) basketball sim “NBA 2K26,” which launches September 5 for PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, Xbox One (MSFT), Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch (NTDOY), Switch 2, and PC. Also out this week is indie action-platformer “Hollow Knight: Silksong,” which launches September 4 for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Switch 2. The previous game in the series, “Hollow Knight,” launched in 2017 and has amassed over 15M unit sales in its lifetime.

CIRCANA: Last week, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that July 2025 video game content spending increased 4% in the U.S. when compared to a year ago, to $4.5B. The increase was driven by growth in the mobile and non-mobile subscription segments, which offset a 9% drop in spending on Console. Year-to-date spending on non-mobile video game subscription services is now 19% higher than a year ago, at $3.6B. Physical sales of Nintendo’s “Donkey Kong Bananza” were high enough to place it 3rd on July’s best-selling games chart while ranking 20th for 2025 year-to-date. It was also the best-selling game of July on Nintendo platforms. Activision’s “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4” ranked among the top 4 best-selling games of the month on each of the PlayStation (SONY), Xbox, Nintendo and aggregated PC platforms charts. Other top-selling premium games for the month in the U.S. were EA’s (EA) “EA Sports College Football 26” and “EA Sports MVP Bundle,” which took the top two sales spots, as well as Activision’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” Microsoft’s “Minecraft” and “Forza Horzion 5,” and Take-Two’s “Grand Theft Auto V.”

‘CALL OF DUTY’ MOVIE: Paramount (PSKY) has partnered with Activision, under Microsoft, to develop and produce a live-action feature film based on the “Call of Duty” video game franchise, The Wrap’s Drew Taylor reported. “Call of Duty” is one of the most successful video game franchises, having sold more than 500M copies globally. “As a lifelong fan of Call of Duty this is truly a dream come true,” David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said in a statement. “From the first Allied campaigns in the original Call of Duty, through Modern Warfare and Black Ops, I’ve spent countless hours playing this franchise that I absolutely love.”

XBOX CLOUD: In a blog post last week, the Xbox insider team said, “We’re always exploring more ways to make your Xbox experience centered around you – your content, benefits, and playstyle. That’s why we’re making it easier to enjoy the games you love, wherever you are, and on any device. Starting today, Xbox Insiders are invited to try out new updates in Xbox Game Pass that make it easier to stream and play across more devices. Xbox Insiders subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Core or Standard now have even more freedom to play wherever they are with Xbox Cloud Gaming beta. As part of this Insider experience, Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers will be able to stream cloud playable games included with their subscription or select cloud playable games they own, making it easier to jump in from any supported device…We’re expanding the ways players can experience PC gaming through Xbox Game Pass. As part of testing, Xbox Insiders subscribed to Game Pass Core or Standard will for the first time gain access to PC versions of select titles, giving you even more flexibility and the choice to play on a PC or Windows handheld.”

In a separate post last week, Xbox said that users will soon be able to more easily sync their gameplay with cross-device play history, along with cloud-playable games now appearing in a user’s play history. “With the new My apps tab in the Xbox PC app, you can quickly launch your favorite apps or games from multiple storefronts,” the company said. “Gaming Copilot beta for Game Bar on Windows 11 is now in preview and is designed to be your gaming sidekick. And controller navigation through the Xbox PC app just got a whole lot smoother. Read more about the new features below, including new gaming additions for Xbox Play Anywhere, Stream your own game, Retro Classics, and more.”

‘DIABLO’ WORKERS UNIONIZE: The Communications Workers of America union said that over 450 game developers behind the popular video game series “Diablo” have voted strongly in favor of union representation with the CWA, either by signing a union authorization card or indicating that they wanted union representation via an online portal. As the latest wave in video game organizing, the workers will be members of CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, Calif.; CWA Local 1118 in Albany, N.Y.; and CWA Local 6215 in Austin, Texas. Microsoft has recognized their union. “With every subsequent round of mass layoffs, I’ve witnessed the dread in my coworkers grow stronger because it feels like no amount of hard work is enough to protect us,” said Kelly Yeo, Team 3 Game Producer on Diablo and organizing committee member. “I am overjoyed that we have formed a union-this is just the first step for us joining a movement spreading across an industry that is tired of living in fear. We are ready to begin fighting for real change alongside our Diablo colleagues.”