U.S. video game spending rose 12% in March, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. video game spending jumped 12% in March, driven by console content and hardware. Pearl Abyss’ “Crimson Desert,” Sony‘s (SONY) “MLB The Show 26,” and Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “Pokemon Pokopia” were among several new releases fueling overall spending growth. U.S. projected total market video game spending reached $5.3B in March 2026, a 12% increase when compared to March 2025. First quarter spending grew 5% when compared to a year ago, to $14.6B. March hardware spending grew by 69% when compared to a year ago, to $500M. Nintendo Switch 2 drove the overall gain, while PlayStation 5 spending increased by 3% compared to March 2025. Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling hardware platform across units and dollars for both March and 2026 year-to-date, with PlayStation 5 ranking 2nd across both measures and time periods. Through each console’s first 10 months in market, unit sales of Nintendo Switch 2 are 12% higher than Nintendo Switch. It remains the 2nd fastest selling hardware platform in U.S. tracked history, which dates back to 1995. March video game content spending increased by 8% versus a year ago, to $4.6B. Console content spending grew 22%, driven by a 40% gain in digital premium downloads. PC, Cloud and Non-Console VR content spending surged 28%, while non-mobile subscription climbed 20%. “Crimson Desert,” “MLB The Show 26” and “Pokemon Pokopia” led all titles in total projected full game spending, with “MLB The Show 26” ranking 1st in combined physical and Digital Leader Panel participating publisher tracked digital sales. After just two months in market, Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Resident Evil Requiem” now ranks among the top five best-selling “Resident Evil” games in all-time U.S. dollar sales. It trails only “Resident Evil 5,” the 2023 remake of “Resident Evil 4,” “Resident Evil Village” and the original “Resident Evil 4.” Other top-selling games for the month in the U.S. were Take-Two’s (TTWO) “WWE 2K26,” Sony’s “Marathon,” Activision’s (MSFT) “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7,” and Capcom’s “Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.” Other publicly traded companies in the gaming space include Electronic Arts (EA), Ubisoft (UBSFY), Tencent (TCEHY), and Roblox (RBLX).