US Video Game Spending Rises 3% in December Year-Over-Year

Consumer spending in US video game market rose 3% year-over-year (YoY) in December, driven by a sharp increase in subscription revenue and a late-year rebound in hardware sales, according to Circana. According to the new study on the U.S. games market by Mat Piscatella, the overall U.S. games market grew 1.4% YoY.

The U.S. games market reached $60.7 billion USD in 2025, with $7.8B in December alone. December hardware sales, including non-console VR, PC, and cloud system sales, increased by 6%, while the overall annual spending increased by 9% in the U.S. gaming market.

Circana data shows subscription services were a key driver, posting a 24% YoY increase in December. Analysts attributed the growth to continued uptake of premium console subscriptions and live-service ecosystems, which helped offset softer trends in full-game unit sales.

Switch 2 Outpaces PS5 in US Video Game Market

Nintendo Switch 2 emerged as the best-selling console in the U.S. in December and retained its lead across the full year 2025. The console outsold Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in unit dollar sales, and also became the fastest-selling console in the United States.

The Nintendo Switch 2 sold 4.4M units, 94% higher than the Switch during the same time, and 35% ahead of the PlayStation 4. Aligning with the success in the U.S., Switch 2 also dominated Nintendo's home market, Japan.

December’s Top-Selling Titles in US Video Game Industry

The Circana data also observed the sales of video games during the period of  Dec 1, 2025  to Jan 3, 2026, and concluded that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was the top-selling game in December 2025, in both physical and digital sales. This also marks the seventh consecutive year that Call of Duty became December's best-selling game.

While Call of Duty dominated the December chart, Battlefield 6 was the best-selling game of 2025 by dollar sales. It was also the most sold game on Xbox and PC; however, it fell behind NBA 2K26 on PS5.

In December 2025, the top five best-selling games were NBA 2K26 (#2), Battlefield 6 (#3),  Madden NFL 26 (#4), EA Sports FC 26 (#5), apart from Black Ops 7, which held the top position. According to Circana’s chart, only Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was the only December release to make it into the chart.