News & Events zu Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO)TTWOTake-Two Interactive Software Inc

U.S. Video Game Spending Falls 1% to $4.8B, EA Cuts 400 Jobs

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.NEW RELEASES:This week's most notable new game release is "Phantom Blade Zero," and action role-playing game from Chinese studio S-Game. The title launches for PC and PlayStation 5on October 29.CIRCANA SEPTEMBER:Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said Thursday that U.S. video game projected total spending across content, hardware and accessories fell 1% in September when compared to a year ago, to $4.8B. Year-to-date spending is now 3% behind 2025's pace, at $41B. September video game hardware spending grew 12% when compared to a year ago, to $362M. Year-to-date hardware spending trails 2025's pace by 9%, at $2.9B. PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales grew 43% in September when compared to a year ago. Spending fell year-on-year for both Xbox Series, down 2%,and Nintendo Switch 2, down 12%. Sony's dollar share of the video game hardware market reached its highest point in a month since May 2025. PlayStation 5 led all hardware platforms in both unit and dollar sales in September. Total video game hardware unit sales fell 3% in September compared to a year ago. PlayStation 5 unit sales increased by 22% year-on-year, with Switch 2 unit sales falling 14% and Xbox Series dropping 27%. Xbox Ecosystem console unit sales fell to an all-time September low. The previous record low was set a year ago.Total content spending fell 2% in September when compared to a year ago, to $4.2B, Piscatella added. Year-to-date content spending is also 2% behind 2025's pace, at $36.3B. Non-mobile subscription spending fell 5% in September when compared to a year ago. It was the first monthly year-on-year drop in subscription spending since February 2024. PS5 exclusive "Marvel's Wolverine" was the best-selling game of September in full game dollar sales, debuting as 2026's 11th best-selling game overall. "Wolverine" generated the highest launch month full game dollar sales for a Sony published title since the February 2024 debut of "Helldivers II." Take-Two's"NBA 2K27" surpassed Capcom's"Resident Evil Requiem" to become the best-selling game of 2026 year-to-date. "NBA 2K27" ranked 2nd overall in September behind only "Marvel's Wolverine." Other top-selling games in the U.S. in September were Electronic Arts' "EA Sports FC 27," Nintendo's "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave," Bandai Namco's"The Blood of Dawnwalker," and Capcom's "Onimusha: Way of the Sword."EA/BIOWARE:In a letter to staff, Electronic Arts said it will slash around 400 jobs, or roughly 3% of its total workforce, and shut down "Mass Effect" developer BioWare, which it acquired in 2007, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported last week, citing a person familiar with the company's plans. In the letter, EA COO David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber wrote that "over the past several months, we've taken a hard look at our business" and will cancel certain projects, including BioWare's next "Mass Effect" game, which had been in early development, the author noted. The game maker still intends to invest in its sports titles, online shooter "Apex Legends," "Battlefield," and action-adventure games such as the next "Star Wars Jedi" game and a new title based on Marvel's Iron Man, the author said.NETFLIX/MICROSOFT:Netflixoffered Microsoft $500M to license Xbox games for adaptations on the streaming platform, with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma countering with an offer to do so for $800M, Puck's Matthew Belloni reports. Netflix pulled its offer following the counter, the report noted. The news comes weeks after Xbox launched an "XP" unit that will oversee adaptations of its video games.ROBLOX SHORT:Bleecker Street Research is short Roblox, saying "it has become the prisoner of its failings." The short-seller recently published report on Roblox titled "The Safety is Theater, But the Hit to Virality is Real," arguing the company's age-verification and child-safety measures are easily circumvented, citing the purchase of 100 age-verified child accounts that were accessed from multiple countries without triggering additional verification. The report also claims users could bypass parental controls and encounter inappropriate content despite Roblox's stated safeguards. The report further contends that these safety changes have hurt user growth and engagement, pointing to declines in new-user acquisition, daily active users, monthly payers, and creator payout growth. Bleecker argues Roblox is becoming a smaller, slower-growing platform while facing potential regulatory risks tied to its safety promises.TAKE-TWO/BOFA:This week, BofA lowered the firm's price target on Take-Twoto $330 from $368 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. While the firm reduced its FY28 EPS estimate to $13.03 from $14.13, it recommends being long Take-Two through the GTA 6 launch, arguing that the stock remains cheap on the long-term growth that it believes "will soon become apparent." While GTA Online's importance "cannot be overstated," the firm believes its upside assumptions "remain reasonable," the analyst added.MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:Sony-owned video game developer Sucker Punch, which made PlayStation games "Ghost of Tsushima" and "Ghost of Yotei," has laid off 26 people at the studio, Aftermath reportsMicrosoft's latest Xbox console exclusive shooter "Gears of War: E-Day," which received mostly positive reviews from critics, had a budget of over $500M, not including marketing, Kotaku reportsXbox COO Helen Chiang is leaving the Microsoft unit after the new position was created just a few months ago, The Verge saysXbox is planning a major overhaul to Game Pass, Fortune reportsCapcom confirmed a data breach into CAPCOM ID accounts