- Mat Piscatella
- Feb 23
- 3 min read
January 2026 Spending (USD, Millions)
Total: $4,698 (+3% vs YA)
Content: $4,266 (+3%)
Hardware: $248 (+16%)
Accessories: $185 (-5%)
Growth in Subscription and Hardware Drive 3% Increase in January 2026 U.S. Video Game Spending
PlayStation 5 led the hardware market in both unit and dollar sales, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 repeated as the best-selling game of the month.
Hardware Key Takeaways
Hardware spending increased 16% when compared to a year ago, reaching $248M. Nintendo Switch 2 spending was able to offset year-on-year declines seen across PlayStation 5 (-17%), Xbox Series (-27%) and Switch (-79%).
Despite sales falling compared to a year ago, PlayStation 5 led the hardware market in both unit and dollar sales during January 2026. Nintendo Switch 2 ranked 2nd across both measures.
Content Key Takeaways
January video game content spending grew 3% when compared to a year ago, to $4.3B. A 23% increase in subscription spending compared to January 2025 combined with slight gains across Console (+2%) and PC (+1%) content to offset a small drop in mobile (-1%) (mobile source: Sensor Tower).
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 repeated as the best-selling game of the month.
Code Vein II was the only new release to appear on the January best-selling titles chart, ranking 11th overall. It placed first on the PC aggregated storefronts chart.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake jumped to 9th in January from 225th in December due to the release of the Switch 2 and Xbox Series versions of the game during the month.
In Mobile content, Sensor Tower reports the top 10 games by U.S. consumer spending in January and the change in ranking from December as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match (+1), Last War: Survival (-1), Candy Crush Saga, Gossip Harbor (+1), Kingshot (-1), Whiteout Survival (+1), Royal Kingdom (+1), Township (+2) and Free Fire (+2).
“The Clash Royale show seems to be officially over, as the game falls out of the top 10 ranking with -49% revenue over December 2025,” said Sam Aune of Sensor Tower. “The game to keep your eye on outside of the top 10 is Loom Games' Pixel Flow!, which grew IAP revenue 79% month over month.”
Accessories Key Takeaways
Accessories spending dipped 5% compared to a year ago, to $185M This is the lowest January accessories spend total since January 2020 ($143M).
Top 10 Selling Video Games (Retail and Digital), January 2026
Rank | Rank Last Month | Title | Publisher |
1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Microsoft (Corp) |
2 | 2 | NBA 2K26 | Take-Two Interactive |
3 | 4 | Madden NFL 26 | Electronic Arts |
4 | 8 | Minecraft^ | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
5 | 3 | Battlefield 6 | Electronic Arts |
6 | 5 | EA Sports FC 26 | Electronic Arts |
7 | 12 | Grand Theft Auto V | Take-Two Interactive |
8 | 15 | Red Dead Redemption II | Take-Two Interactive |
9 | 225 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
10 | 14 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
* Digital sales not included for marked titles - ^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included
Note: Sales of software packaged in a hardware bundle are not included in the best-selling titles charts.
Top 10 Selling Video Games (Retail and Digital), Year-to-Date 2026
Rank | Rank Last Month | Title | Publisher |
1 | 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Microsoft (Corp) |
2 | 2 | NBA 2K26 | Take-Two Interactive |
3 | 4 | Madden NFL 26 | Electronic Arts |
4 | 8 | Minecraft^ | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
5 | 3 | Battlefield 6 | Electronic Arts |
6 | 5 | EA Sports FC 26 | Electronic Arts |
7 | 12 | Grand Theft Auto V | Take-Two Interactive |
8 | 15 | Red Dead Redemption II | Take-Two Interactive |
9 | 225 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
10 | 14 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
* Digital sales not included for marked titles - ^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included ^^ Digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox platforms not included
Note: Sales of software packaged in a hardware bundle are not included in the best-selling titles charts.
