Nintendo Switch 2 Leads Americas Sales Amid Industry Slump
Nintendo Switch 2 led July hardware unit sales in the Americas, though overall industry spending hit a six-year low due to rising console prices.
The Nintendo Switch 2 emerged as the best-selling console by unit volume in the Americas during July 2026, selling an estimated 267,201 units. However, the PlayStation 5 led in total US dollar revenue for the same period due to a higher average selling price. In Europe, the PlayStation 5 took the top spot with 301,537 units sold, while the Switch 2 ranked second with 192,896 units.
Despite individual successes, the broader industry faced a significant downturn. U.S. video game hardware spending fell 29% year-over-year to $282 million, the lowest July spending since 2020. Total hardware sales dropped 39% across all systems, a decline analysts attribute to high hardware prices and an ongoing component crisis. The Switch 2 experienced the steepest year-over-year hardware decline at 51%, while the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S fell by 6% and 18% respectively.
Software trends indicate a sharp shift toward digital distribution. Physical software sales hit an all-time July low of $85 million. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it will cease manufacturing physical game discs by 2027 or 2028, a move that sparked consumer protests but which the company claims has not impacted performance. While Nintendo currently dominates physical software with 63% of sales, subscriptions were the only content spending category to increase. A digital-only PlayStation 5 port of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was the top-selling game of the month.
Keep reading in the app
The full story and every source, free in the app.
Coming soonGoogle Play