US game spending hit $5.3 billion in March as Switch 2 hardware sales surged

US consumer spending on video games reached $5.3 billion in March 2026, up 12% year over year, according to Circana. For the first quarter, spending was up 5% to $14.6 billion.

The biggest jump came from hardware. Sales climbed 69% to $500 million, with Nintendo Switch 2 leading both unit and dollar sales for March and for 2026 so far. Circana says Switch 2 is still the fastest-selling hardware platform in its records, and its first 10 months are running 12% ahead of the original Switch.

Content spending also moved up, rising 8% to $4.5 billion. Console content was the main driver there, up 22%, helped by a 40% increase in digital premium downloads and new releases including Crimson Desert, MLB The Show 26, and Pokémon Pokopia.

On the monthly software chart, MLB The Show 26 debuted at No. 1. Resident Evil: Requiem held at No. 2 and is already one of the top five best-selling Resident Evil games in US dollar sales after just two months, trailing only Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 4 from 2023, Resident Evil: Village, and the original Resident Evil 4.

Other new arrivals in Circana’s top 20 for the March 1 to April 4 period included WWE 2K26 at No. 3, Marathon at No. 4, Pokémon Pokopia at No. 5, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections at No. 7, and Crimson Desert at No. 15.

Pokémon had a solid month on Nintendo platforms in particular. Pokémon Pokopia led that platform chart, while Pokémon Legends: Z-A came in second there and landed at No. 18 on Circana’s overall top 20.

Elsewhere, Monopoly Go stayed the top mobile game even though its revenue was down more than 10% quarter over quarter.

One note on the rankings: some publishers didn’t include full digital sales. Pokémon Pokopia, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Mario Kart World, and Crimson Desert are missing digital sales in Circana’s chart, while Minecraft excludes Xbox and Switch digital sales.