Nintendo Switch 2 is the best-selling console across units and dollar sales for August 2026 and 2026 year-to-date in the United States, according to Circana senior director Mat Piscatella. PlayStation 5 is ranking second for August and 2026 year-to-date in both metrics.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is projected at the 8th best-selling game year-to-date for 2026, with Pokémon Pokopia in 10th place. The best-selling game year-to-date for 2026 is Resident Evil Requiem, which was also released for Nintendo Switch 2.
August 2026 game hardware spending fell 3% compared to August 2025 to $302 million, and year-to-date hardware spending is 11% behind 2025’s pace at $2.5 billion. Despite that, PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales grew 17% in the month compared to one year ago, and the growth was offset by 13% in decreased spending for Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S hardware.
Hardware unit sales for August 2026 also fell 15% compared to one year ago to 559,000 units, which is the lowest for an August month since 2013 at 423,000 units. PlayStation hardware unit sales fell 11% when compared to August 2025, and Xbox hardware unit sales decreased by 31% compared to August 2025. Nintendo hardware unit sales also decreased by 15% during the same period.
The overall dip in hardware spending and sales can be attributed to the increase in average pricing for new video game hardware in the U.S. According to Circana, the U.S. reached a new August average pricing record for video game hardware at $541, beating the previous August record from 2025 at $476.
