US Gaming Spending Falls 10% in July 2026 as Console Sales Hit Pandemic-Era Lows
US gaming spending dropped 10 percent in July 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, with console hardware sales falling to levels not seen since the pandemic shortages of July 2020, according to market tracker Circana Eurogamer, 2026-08-20.
Hardware spending fell 29 percent year-on-year. Every console platform — PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo — sold fewer units than in July 2025. The combined drop across hardware, software and accessories pushed total US gaming spend down by a tenth.
New physical game sales hit their lowest point since Circana began tracking the US market in 1995. Of the physical games that did sell, 63 percent of spending went to Nintendo titles and 32 percent to PlayStation, with the remaining sliver split among other publishers.
The software charts, however, told a different story. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, originally released in 2012, topped the US best-seller list for July 2026 after a mid-month port brought it to PS4 and PS5. The original Call of Duty: Black Ops, bundled with that port, landed at number five. Halo: Campaign Evolved took the sixth spot.
Spending declines hit across the board — PC, console and mobile all contracted. Only one category grew: subscriptions, the services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus that bundle access to libraries of games for a monthly fee, rose 6 percent.
The July numbers cap a volatile summer. In May 2026, total US gaming spend had actually risen 3 percent year-on-year to $4.2 billion, with hardware spending surging 38 percent to $249 million. June then reversed hard, falling 21 percent to $4.5 billion Insider Gaming, 2026-07-22.
What makes the July data stand out is the hardware picture. The average price consumers paid for a new console in May was $502, up 14 percent from $440 a year earlier — suggesting those still buying are reaching for pricier models even as fewer units move overall. The July collapse to near-2020 levels is striking because July 2020 was defined by scarcity, not disinterest: pandemic-fuelled component shortages meant shelves were empty. This time, the shelves are stocked and the buyers simply are not there in the same numbers.
For context, Circana projected in February 2026 that full-year US video game spending would rise 3 percent to $62.8 billion, surpassing the previous all-time high of $61.7 billion Circana, 2026-02-11. Those projections rested on a stronger first half and the typical holiday-season lift. The summer slump narrows the margin for error.
