U.S. video game spending rose 5% y/y in July, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that July 2025 projected U.S. total spending across video game hardware, content and accessories grew 5% when compared to a year ago, to $5.1B. Year-to-date spending is now 1% behind 2024’s pace, at $32.6B. Monthly hardware spending grew 21% when compared to a year ago, to $384M. This is the highest hardware spending in a July month since the $441M achieved in July 2008. The Nintendo Switch 2 (NTDOY) has now surpassed 2M units sold in the U.S. life-to-date. It is currently 75% ahead of the unit sales pace set by the original Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch 2 also drove July’s hardware spending growth. July dollar sales of PlayStation 5 (SONY) hardware fell 47% compared to a year ago, while Xbox Series spending dropped by 69%. Nintendo Switch spending declined 52% year-on-year. Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling video game hardware in units and dollars for both July and 2025 year-to-date. PlayStation 5 ranked 2nd across both measures and time periods.