U.S. videogame sales rose 5% year-over-year in July, helping 2025 sales start to catch up to 2024’s pace, thanks in part to new games from EA Sports (NASDAQ:EA) and Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY) and the ongoing sales push from the summer’s new Switch 2 console.
Overall sales rose to $5.05B for July, according to research group Circana. That total rose from $4.82B in July 2024.
As usual, the bulk of sales comes in game content, where spending rose 4% to $4.48B from a year-ago $4.3B. But, goosed by the new Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY), hardware sales jumped 21% year-over-year to $384M, while accessories sales fell 8% to $187M, according to the new report.
On a year-to-date basis, total videogame sales of $32.59B are now down just 1% from the 2024 total through July. Over that same interval, content sales are off 2% to $28.67B, hardware sales are up 18% to $2.47B, and accessories sales are down 6% to $1.45B.
On hardware: The Switch 2 (OTCPK:NTDOY), released in June, was the story; it was the best-selling console in both unit and dollar terms, both for July and for 2025 year-to-date. With a hot new console on the block, dollar sales of the rival PlayStation 5 (SONY) fell 47%, while Xbox Series (MSFT) slipped 69%, and spending on Nintendo’s first-generation Switch fell 52%.
The $384M in hardware spending was the most in a July month since July 2008, when the total was $441M, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella noted.
As for accessories, the Switch 2 Pro Controller (OTCPK:NTDOY) became the year’s best-seller in unit and dollar terms.
In content, a drop in console sales was more than made up for by mobile and nonmobile subscription spending. Four new games topped the monthly sales chart, led by EA Sports College Football 26 (NASDAQ:EA) and the EA Sports MVP Bundle (EA). Those were followed by two other debuts: Donkey Kong Bananza (OTCPK:NTDOY) and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 (MSFT).
Rounding out the July top 10 in games: No. 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (MSFT); No. 6, Minecraft; No. 7, Forza Horizon 5 (MSFT); No. 8, Grounded 2 (MSFT); No. 9, Red Dead Redemption II (TTWO); and No. 10, Grand Theft Auto V (TTWO).
Mobile game spending rose 7% year-over-year in July, according to Sensor Tower, with the most notable jump into the top 10 coming from Garena’s Free Fire (SE), up seven spots to become the top mobile shooter in U.S. spending.
The month’s top 10 mobile games by U.S. consumer spending: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga (MSFT), Whiteout Survival, Free Fire (SE), Clash Royale (OTCPK:TCEHY), Kingshot, Township, and Royal Kingdom.
Related tickers: OTCPK:NTDOY, SONY, MSFT, TBCH, LOGI, CRSR, EA, TTWO, WBD, OTCPK:UBSFY, OTCPK:NCBDY, OTCPK:SQNNY, OTCPK:CCOEY, OTCPK:SGAMY, OTCPK:KONMY, OTCPK:NEXOY, SKLZ, SE, NTES, OTCPK:TCEHY, RBLX. Retail stock: GME.