U.S. video game spending grew 3% in April, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. video game spending totaled $4.3B in April 2026, growing 3% when compared to a year ago. Year-to-date 2026 spending finished the month 5% higher than 2025, at $18.8B. Gains across content and hardware offset declines in accessories. April hardware spending increased by 34% when compared to a year ago, to $261M. Spending on Nintendo Switch 2 (NTDOY) hardware offset declines seen across Switch, down 69% versus April 2025, Xbox Series (MSFT), down 43%, and PlayStation 5 (SONY), down 30%. Nintendo Switch 2 was again the best-selling hardware platform across both units and dollars for April and 2026 year-to-date, with PlayStation 5 again ranking 2nd across both measures and time periods. After 66 months in market, PlayStation 5’s lifetime installed base finished April tracking 2% ahead of PlayStation 4 on a time aligned basis. Nintendo Switch 2 led the sales pace of the original Nintendo Switch by 11%. Nintendo monthly dollar share of video game hardware spending finished April 2026 at its highest point since July 2025. Content spending finished April at $3.8B, growing 2% when compared to a year ago. Year-to-date content spending was 3% ahead of 2025’s pace, at $16.7B. April spending on Console content was the primary driver of overall content growth as spending increased by 21% compared to a year ago. Subscription spending grew 13% year-on-year, while PC Content was up slightly. Nintendo’s “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream” was the best-selling game of April, delivering over $41M in physical and projected digital spending. “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream” debuted as the 9th best-selling game of 2026 year-to-date. Helped by “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream,” consumer spending on new physical software grew 44% in April when compared to a year ago, to $96M. Year-to-date spending on new physical software increased by 9%. Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Pragmata” ranked as the 2nd best-selling game of April 2026. Pragmata was the month’s best-seller on PlayStation platforms, placed 2nd on the PC aggregated storefronts chart and ranked 3rd on Xbox. It was among the top 15 sellers of the month on Nintendo platforms. Other games in the projected top 10 beset-selling games in the U.S. in April, according to Circana, were Pearl Abyss’ “Crimson Desert,” Sony’s “MLB: The Show 26” and “Saros,” Kraken Express’ “Windrose,” Nintendo’s “Pokemon Pokopia” and “Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2,” and Microsoft’s “Starfield,” which launched for PS5 for the first time in April. Other publicly traded companies in the space include Tencent (TCEHY), Take-Two (TTWO), Electronic Arts (EA), Roblox (RBLX), and Ubisoft (UBSFY).