The US video game market declined by 21% in June, an industry researcher estimates, marking the single biggest monthly drop since 2022 after hardware price increases took a toll on gaming demand.
The sharp fall in sales also reflected a high base of comparison from June 2025, when Nintendo Co. debuted the Switch 2, according to Circana. Hardware sales, including Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox and Nintendo’s console, slumped 62% last month, according to the latest figures. The dramatic reversal also affected software, as content purchases dropped — to $3.9 billion — below their level from the year before the Switch 2.
A succession of price increases on consoles and other consumer electronics has dampened spending. Only subscriptions grew among the various game content segments, Circana said. Nintendo continued to add to the lineup for its new platform, with Star Fox making its debut at No. 4 on the June sales chart and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream still in the top 10. The latter game, a surprise hit released in April, is the seventh-best-selling game in the US this year. Overall spending for the year was down 1%, as Switch-related enthusiasm bolstered sales earlier in the year.
Kyoto-based Nintendo, whose shares are down more than 50% from their all-time high last summer, has struggled to sustain investor excitement as the surging cost of memory and other components cuts into profits. The company in May announced a global price increase for the fall, acknowledging the challenges to profitability from a strained supply chain.
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