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[IbizaPocholo]

US video game spending rose 3% in January, driven by $596m from subscription services | US Monthly Charts

Hardware revenue reached $248 million, up 16% compared to January 2025

www.gamesindustry.biz

US consumer spending on video games rose 3% year-on-year to $4.3 billion in January 2026. This growth was driven by a 23% increase in non-mobile subscription services, generating $596 million in revenue.

New data from Circana shows console and PC content spending increased, while mobile saw a slight drop. Hardware spend reached $248 million, up 16% compared to January 2025.

Nintendo Switch 2 revenue offset year-on-year declines for PlayStation 5 (down 17%), Xbox Series X|S (down 27%), and the Nintendo Switch console family (down 79%).

However, PS5 continued to lead the US hardware market in both unit and dollar sales last month, with Switch 2 in second place.

Looking at the Top 20, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 remained in first place, followed by NBA 2K26. Battlefield 6 dropped from No. 3 to No. 5, with Madden NFL 26 taking its spot.

Final Fantasy 7: Remake skyrocketed into the Top 10 from No.225 after the release of its Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S versions. Bandai Namco's Code Vein 2 was the only new entry to make the charts in January, debuting at No.11.

Fallout 4 just made it into the Top 20, rising from No.68 after the second season of Prime Video's adaptation. It was the streaming service's sixth most-watched series of all time, while sales of Fallout games spiked over Christmas following the series premiere.

As for mobile content, Clash Royale fell out of the Top 10, with revenue down 49% in December 2025. Pixel Flow experienced a 79% month-over-month increase in IAP revenue. Scopely recently acquired a majority stake in its developer, Loom Games.

Here are the top 20 selling games from the period of January 4, 2026, to January 31, 2026, data courtesy of Circana:

1	1	Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
2	2	NBA 2K26
3	4	Madden NFL 26
4	8	Minecraft^
5	3	Battlefield 6
6	5	EA Sports FC 26
7	12	Grand Theft Auto 5
8	15	Red Dead Redemption 2
9	225	Final Fantasy 7: Remake
10	14	Forza Horizon 5
11	NEW	Code Vein 2
12	10	Ghost of Yōtei
13	17	Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
14	11	EA Sports College Football 26
15	28	Helldivers 2
16	6	Pokémon Legends: Z-A*
17	24	Split Fiction
18	25	Elden Ring
19	16	Flight Simulator 2024
20	68	Fallout 4

​

*Digital sales not included, ^Xbox and Switch digital sales not included.

 

[adamsapple]

driven by $596m from subscription services

Phil Spencer's legacy in Game Pass saving the industry yet again.

Thank you, Phil.

 

[Miles708]

Consumer's obsession with subscriptions (for games, movies and all kinds of services) will forever baffle me.

 

[KanKamAndNob]

Consumer's obsession with subscriptions (for games, movies and all kinds of services) will forever baffle me.

Movies and TV shows I can kind of understand. Exclusive TV shows/movies that are only available on streaming sites. Games are another matter though. Why not just have the convenience of having the game disc available to you whenever?

More baffling to me is the fact that they play literally the same garbage year in and year out like their stupid kickball/throwball sims and COD which hasn't been good in over 10 years.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I still have not canceled my PC Gamepass.
I have a 3 month thing that was included with the Rog Ally X I got during Christmas. I have till June to redeem.
BUT It's for Gamepass Ultimate. If I redeem, it it will bump me up to the more expensive tier for 3 months then start charging me for the Ultimate tier. I'll have to manually go back in and change it to PC Gamepass.
Kind of dangerous for MS to do that as I could just cancel the entire thing instead. It's just one button over.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Movies and TV shows I can kind of understand. Exclusive TV shows/movies that are only available on streaming sites. Games are another matter though. Why not just have the convenience of having the game disc available to you whenever?

More baffling to me is the fact that they play literally the same garbage year in and year out like their stupid kickball/throwball sims and COD which hasn't been good in over 10 years.

I get it, but there is probably not even 5 percent of total games I play that I want to play again. I think Subs can work for gaming but is it for everyone? probably not.

With everything thats going on. I dont think these big AAA devs deserve more than my subscription money. Id rather spend my money on Japanese games and other awesome games.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Movies and TV shows I can kind of understand. Exclusive TV shows/movies that are only available on streaming sites. Games are another matter though. Why not just have the convenience of having the game disc available to you whenever?

More baffling to me is the fact that they play literally the same garbage year in and year out like their stupid kickball/throwball sims and COD which hasn't been good in over 10 years.

Subscriptions include things like PS+, and well you need that if you are going to play paid MP games on PS5.

 

[onQ123]

Phil Spencer's legacy in Game Pass saving the industry yet again.

Thank you, Phil.

And people buying PlayStation+ for their Portal & PS5/PS4


{ Nice spin though }

 

[Itchy Tickles]

Wasn't it Eurogamer or another shitrag, that had an article a few days ago about gamers being more interested in crypto and porn meant gaming had bad times ahead? But gaming is up 3% last month? Shocking that the click bait talentless scum were wrong, who would've guessed?

As for subscriptions, still don't click with them for gaming. I'm still in the mindset of buying games gives them more value and appreciation versus having access to whole catalogues that end up overwhelming you and not feeling as good as it should. Too much of a good thing turns into a negative quite quick for me.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Wasn't it Eurogamer or another shitrag, that had an article a few days ago about gamers being more interested in crypto and porn meant gaming had bad times ahead? But gaming is up 3% last month? Shocking that the click bait talentless scum were wrong, who would've guessed?

As for subscriptions, still don't click with them for gaming. I'm still in the mindset of buying games gives them more value and appreciation versus having access to whole catalogues that end up overwhelming you and not feeling as good as it should. Too much of a good thing turns into a negative quite quick for me.

Spending is up 3% thanks to subs. Doesnt mean people are playing 3 percent more, sadly.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Consumer's obsession with subscriptions (for games, movies and all kinds of services) will forever baffle me.

For me, with games at least, it fits my gaming style very nicely. I never resell. Rarely replay. Never buy day one. Going with a sub is a very budget friendly way, especially if you wait for a sale on the service, to get access to a ton of games for a relatively cheap price. It's also a great way of trying a game out to see if it clicks with me for a possible purchase down the road. There's a lot of games I never would have tried if not for having access to a sub service. YMMV.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Spending is up 3% thanks to subs. Doesnt mean people are playing 3 percent more, sadly.

There's plenty who are paying for a subscription but maybe not even using it.

 

[_Ex_]

Consumer's obsession with subscriptions (for games, movies and all kinds of services) will forever baffle me.

What some like: Instant gratification access to a wide berth of titles that one doesn't have to individually purchase (or pirate) to experience.

What I don't like: A continuously renewing fee for access to media you do not own, wherein if you fail to pay the fee your access is revoked, meanwhile the titles within said media appear and disappear at the publisher's whimsy.

 

[Loomy]

Phil Spencer's legacy in Game Pass saving the industry yet again.

Thank you, Phil.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Phil Spencer's legacy in Game Pass saving the industry yet again.

Thank you, Phil.

I would actually like to know how much money Nintendo, Xbox and Sony make per month with their subscription services. Shame we don't get that data...but i actually use quite a lot of the games on PS Plus.

Silent Hill 2 Remake, Alan Wake 1 and 2, Cyberpunk, etc are installed on my PS5 because they are on PSPlus. I'd never play them otherwise and i'm sure i'm not alone.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

I would actually like to know how much money Nintendo, Xbox and Sony make per month with their subscription services. Shame we don't get that data...but i actually use quite a lot of the games on PS Plus.

Sony reports that in their financial results (PS+). That's the "Network Services" portion. Last quarter was 199 billion yen.

 

[lachesis]

The meme picture that says "You will own nothing and you will be happy" thing seems to be closer than ever.

Funny that this video came up my youtube feed right on time when I was thinking about it... perhaps big techs are already reading my mind!

 

[Montauk]

Phil Spencer's legacy in Game Pass saving the industry yet again.

Thank you, Phil.

Many visionaries are unappreciated in their time.

 

[Zacfoldor]

What was the total revenue for the month and what percentage of that total revenue is 596 million?

edit: removed

 

[Montauk]

What was the total revenue for the month and what percentage of that total revenue is 596 million?

I asked google and they say $4.69 billion - In January 2026, American consumers spent a total of $4.69 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories, a 3% year-over-year increase.

What does I asked Google mean?

I would double check any cited sources.

 

[Zacfoldor]

What does I asked Google mean?

I would double check any cited sources.

Good point since it was wrong, lol. I'm actually rechecking now. By the way do YOU know the total revenue for Jan 2026 in the US?

Edit: NVM I found it:

In January, the revenue of the US gaming market amounted to $4.7 billion, and Final Fantasy VII Remake jumped 216 positions in the chart

The Circana analyst Mat Piscatella shared the first report on the state of the American market in 2026. Here are the key points.

app2top.com

• In January 2026, American consumers spent a total of $4.69 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories. This is a 3% increase compared to the previous year.

My math isn't great but I was like 596,000,000 divided by 4,690,000,000 = 12.7%