In the United States, only 559,000 consoles and devices were sold in August, registering the lowest figure since 2013

Things in the world of video games have not been going well for a long time and hardware sales in the United States prove it. They have been sold 559,000 units in August, 15% less than a year before. However, the key fact is that this is the lowest figure for that month since 2013, when 423,000 were sold.

Even so, the average price of a new device reached a record for August, $541compared to 476 from the previous maximum, in 2025. These are data from Circana that Mat Piscatella, its senior director and advisor to the video game industry, shared in a Bluesky thread.

August 2026 US Video Game Market Highlights Thread from Circana – US video game projected total spending across content, hardware and accessories dipped 9% in August when compared to a year ago, to $4.3 billion.

(image or embed)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) October 8, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

Total spending in the US market, which includes both content and hardware and accessories, fell 9% year-over-year, to 4.3 billion dollars. Mobile was the main culprit, down 18% according to Sensor Tower, and console content fell 7%. In the opposite direction, PC games rose 13% and subscriptions rose 3%.

The hardware had a turnover of 302 million dollars, 3% less, and so far this year it has accumulated 2.5 billion, 11% below 2025. PlayStation 5 increased its income by 17%, while Xbox Series and Switch 2 fell 13% each. In units, PlayStation fell 11%Xbox 31% (its worst August since 2020) and Nintendo 15%.

Of course, the Switch 2 is the market leader in units and revenue, both in August and cumulatively for the year, with PS5 in second position.

And what about the sale of games?

Piscatella has also given data beyond the hardware, and they are not flattering either. For example, spending on content fell 10% in August, to $3.8 billion, and the accumulated spending for 2026 (32.2 billion) is 2% behind last year.

In the list of physical sales and digital full games, NBA 2K27 It was the best seller of the month after coming out in early access on August 26, and it is already the third of the year. Madden NFL 27 came in second and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls third, two of the six releases that entered the top 10. Elden Ring rose to seventh place from July 41, with the release of its Switch 2 version within the period.

New physical software totals $738 million in 2026, up 5%. This is compensated by the Game-Key Card, a physical format that does not include the complete game and requires downloading it: its spending grew by 631%, while the rest of the media fell by 3%.

The best figure of the entire report is found in the sale of controls, which grew by 39%. According to Circana data, PlayStation Portal in Midnight Black was the third best-selling accessory, after the DualSense and DualSense Edge in that color. Obviously, it must be emphasized that all This data is limited to the United States marketalthough they serve as a fairly reliable sample to make a global x-ray of how things are.