Analyst Mat Piscatella from Circana released his monthly report on the state of the U.S. gaming market. We've highlighted the key figures.
EA Sports College Football 26
- In July 2025, Americans spent a total of $5.05 billion on video games, gaming hardware, and accessories. This is a 5% increase compared to the same mid-summer period last year.
- Game sales increased by 4% to $4.48 billion. The best-selling paid game in July was EA Sports College Football 26 — it performed so well that it also secured the third spot in the sales ranking for the year to date.
- In the top 20 best-selling paid games in the U.S. in July, besides EA Sports College Football 26, there were four other new entries: the EA Sports MVP Bundle, which includes both College Football 26 and Madden 26 (second place), Donkey Kong Bananza (third place), Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 (fourth place), and Grounded 2 (eighth place).
- Sales of gaming hardware last month jumped 21% to $384 million. The top bestseller was the Nintendo Switch 2.
- Piscatella mentioned that in June-July, Nintendo sold 2 million units of the Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. The sales pace of the new console in the U.S. surpassed the launch sales pace of the original Nintendo Switch by 75%.
- Sales of gaming accessories in July dropped by 8%, falling to $187 million. The most in-demand item was the Pro Controller for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Top 20 Best-Selling Paid Games in the U.S. in July 2025
1. EA Sports College Football 26 (new)
2. EA Sports MVP Bundle (new)
3. Donkey Kong Bananza* (new)
4. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 (new)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (↓1)
6. Minecraft^ (↑2)
7. Forza Horizon 5 (↓1)
8. Grounded 2 (new)
9. Red Dead Redemption II (↑6)
10. GTA V (↓1)
11. MLB: The Show 25^^ (↓4)
12. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (↓10)
13. WWE 2K25 (↑6)
14. Elden Ring (↓1)
15. NBA 2K25 (↓1)
16. Elden Ring Nightreign (↓15)
17. Split Fiction (↓6)
18. EA Sports FC 25 (↓6)
19. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (↑3)
20. F1 21 (-)
* — without digital sales.
^ — without digital sales on Nintendo Switch.
^^ — without digital sales on Nintendo Switch and Xbox.