The U.S. Video Game Market: July 2026

The U.S. video game market experienced a notable contraction in July 2026, with total consumer spending falling 10% year-over-year to $4.5 billion. This decline reflects a broader downward trend for the first seven months of the year, which currently tracks 2% behind 2025 levels. The market analysis, which utilizes a combination of projected estimates and actual sales data from Circana and mobile revenue insights from Sensor Tower, highlights significant weaknesses across all primary industry segments.

Content spending, which accounts for the bulk of the market at $4.1 billion, decreased by 9% compared to the previous year. While mobile content saw the most substantial drop, console and PC sectors also faced declines. Hardware performance was particularly weak, generating $282 million in revenue—a 29% year-over-year decrease and the lowest July total since 2020. Unit sales for hardware plummeted 39%, exacerbated by a 16% increase in the average price of new systems, which reached $542. Despite these challenges, the Nintendo Switch 2 continues to show resilience, maintaining a sales pace 11% ahead of the original Switch after 14 months on the market.

Accessories also struggled, recording $178 million in revenue, representing a 6% decline and the lowest July performance since 2019. On the software front, re-releases dominated the charts, with Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Black Ops securing top positions following their arrival on PlayStation platforms. In the mobile sector, Pokémon GO saw a significant 230% revenue surge driven by its tenth-anniversary events, while other titles like Last War: Survival continued a multi-month decline attributed to reduced user acquisition efforts.