Total U.S. video game sales rose 3% year-over-year for the month of October, while sales figures so far this year were up 2%, according to a research report from Circana on Thursday.
October sales came in at $4.89B compared with $4.74B for the same period last year.
The bulk of sales, as usual, was generated by game content, which rose 1% to $4.36B for the month. The growth was led by a 9% jump in subscription spending and a 10% increase in spending on mobile video game content.
Hardware sales were up 36% at $351M for the month, while accessory sales saw a 7% decline from the prior year to $176M.
So far this year, overall U.S. sales were $47.06B vs. $46.19B in 2024. Game content sales were up 1% at $41.52B, hardware sales surged 21% to $3.53B, while accessories sales fell 6% to $2B.
When looking closely at hardware numbers for the period from October 5 through November 1, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella noted that Nintendo Switch 2 (OTCPK:NTDOF) (OTCPK:NTDOY) sold 328k units, which is 68% ahead of the sales pace set by the original Nintendo Switch and is 3% ahead of PlayStation 4’s (SONY) previous record velocity.
“Switch 2 was again able to offset declines across Switch (-52% versus a year ago), Xbox Series (-37%), and PlayStation 5 (-22%),” Piscatella said.
Battlefield 6 debuted as the best-selling game of 2025 year-to-date, the report said. The game produced the highest single-month U.S. physical & digital full-game tracked dollar sales total in 3 years.
“Battlefield 6 launched as the best-selling game in franchise history, with its October 2025 volume surpassing the lifetime sales total of the previous record holder, Battlefield 1,” Piscatella said.
The month’s top 10 mobile games by U.S. consumer spending: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga (NASDAQ:MSFT), Clash Royale, Kingshot, Gossip Harbor, Royal Kingdom, Whiteout Survival, and Township.
“Gossip Harbor continues its seemingly inexorable growth that has characterized its entire lifespan, increasing US revenue 12% over September,” said Sam Aune, the gaming insight analyst at Sensor Tower. “Clash Royale showed a small decline month over month, though its overall position is still around 4x where it was at the start of the year.”
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