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U.S. Video Game Spending Declines 9% in August to $4.3 Billion

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.NEW RELEASES:Among this week's most notable new game releases is Konami'saction-adventure title "Castlevania: Belmont's Curse," the first brand-new game in the long-running "Castlevania" franchise since 2014's "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2." The game release October 15 for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, Ubisoft'sdance-rhythm game "Just Dance: Decades of Hits" launches October 13 for Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version set to launch November 10.CIRCANA AUGUST:Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. video game projected total spending across content, hardware and accessories dipped 9% in August when compared to a year ago, to $4.3B. Mobile was the primary driver of the overall August spending decline, falling 18% vs YA. Console content spend declined by 7%, PC content increased by 13%, and subscription grew 3%. August video game hardware spending fell 3% when compared to a year ago, to $302M. Year-to-date hardware spending is 11% behind 2025's pace, at $2.5B. PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales grew 17% in August when compared to a year ago. This growth was offset by 13% spending drops across both Xbox Series and Switch 2 hardware. Total August 2026 video game hardware unit sales fell 15% versus a year ago to 559k units, the lowest total for an August month since 2013. PlayStation hardware unit sales fell 11% during August when compared to a year ago (to the lowest August total since 2013), while Xbox hardware unit sales declined by 31% (lowest August since 2020). Nintendo hardware unit sales dipped by 15% vs YA. The average price paid for a new unit of video game hardware in the US reached an August record $541. The previous August record was $476, set a year ago. Nintendo Switch 2 led the US hardware market in both unit and dollar sales for both the August and 2026 year-to-date periods. PlayStation 5 ranked 2nd across both measures and time periods.Total content spending declined 10% in August when compared to a year ago, to $3.8B. Year-to-date content spending finished August trailing 2025 by 2%, at $32.2B. Take-Two's"NBA 2K27" was the best-selling game of August in full game dollar sales. It debuted as the #3 best-seller of 2026 year-to-date after releasing in early access on August 26th. Six new releases appeared among the top 10 best-selling video games of August. Among these new releases were EA's "Madden NFL 27," which ranked 2nd overall in full game dollar sales in the month, and Sony's "Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls," which placed 3rd. Bandai Namco's"Elden Ring" jumped to 7th on the August best-selling video games chart, up from 41st in July. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring was released in the August tracking period. 2026 year-to-date spending on new physical software has increased by 5% when compared to a year ago, to $738 million. A 631% increase in spending on Game-Key Card physical releases has offset a 3% drop in spending across all other new physical media types. Other top-selling premium games in the U.S. in August, according to Circana, were EA's "Star Wars: Zero Company," Microsoft's "Halo: Campaign Evolved," and Nintendo's "Mario Kart World" and "Splatoon Raiders."UNITY/GOOGLE AI GAMING:Last week, Googleand Unity Softwareannounced a new artificial intelligence-powered game creation platform called Playground. The new platform allows users aged 18 and older to create and customize playable games using natural language prompts without coding. Share of Roblox, a game creation tool, slipped after the news.XBOX XP UNIT:Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball said in a blog post last week, "Our ambition at XBOX is to be the number one entertainment company in the world. This means growing our games into enduring franchises that entertain, inspire and connect people across every generation and across the globe. That opportunity is why we're creating XP. XP is a new XBOX division, led by newly appointed President, Kayleen Walters, spanning film and television, consumer products, strategic partnerships, and live experiences. It brings together capabilities that have existed across various teams at XBOX for years and aligns them behind a shared mission: helping our franchises reach more people, create deeper connections with players and new fans, and unlock new opportunities for these fandoms to grow around the world. Great games remain at the center of these franchises and at the heart of XBOX. XP will partner with the best creative minds across our studios, along with trusted partners, to build on that foundation and create more ways for people to experience the worlds they love." The division includes four investment areas: Xbox Pictures, Xbox Products, Xbox Places, and Xbox Partnerships.NINTENDO/PHYSICAL GAMES:Bill van Zyll, vice president and general manager for Nintendo of Latin America, said in an interview with YouTuber Coelho during the Brazil Game Show that the Japanese game maker has no plans to abandon physical game production, Kotaku's Alicia Haddick reported. "Historically, we haven't had a preference for a specific format," the executive said. "We take consumer preferences very much into consideration. We also have a platform that was just launched. We've been around for a little over a year with the Nintendo Switch 2, and it offers both digital and physical games. Therefore, we have no plans to abandon physical media. We know how much fans enjoy it." The Fly notes that the comments come several months after Sony announced it would end physical game disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028.EPIC/DISNEY GAME:Epic Games has postponed the release of an upcoming video game collaboration with Disneyand has told its developers to use more AI tools to complete the game, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported Monday, citing people familiar with the project. The game had been set to release in March 2027 but has now been delayed with no new date, the author noted. People working on the game, which is a shooter with characters from Marvel and Star Wars franchises, were told to implement an "AI first" production models using tools including Anthropic's Claude, with actual humans then managing and guiding that work into the final product, the author said. Investors in Epic Games, which makes "Fortnite," include Tencent, KKR, Disney, and Sony.MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:Rockstar will release "Grand Theft Auto VI" on PC in 1Q27, GamesBeat reportsThe PS5 was the top-selling game console in the U.K. between August 23 and September 26, The Game Business reportsAdditionally, PS5 exclusive "Marvel's Wolverine" sold 2.16M units in its debut month, The Game Business saysElectronic Arts said its tactics game "Star Wars Zero Company," which released in late August, has sold over 1M units so farBandai Namco said that its latest flight combat game "Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve" has surpassed 1M copies sold since its October 2 releaseXbox studio The Coalition said its latest game "Gears of War: E-Day" was hit with a DDoS attackA live-action film based on CD Projekt'srole-playing game "Cyberpunk 2077" is in development at Paramount, Deadline reports