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Switch 2 Leads March U.S. Hardware as Game Spending Rises 12 Percent

Missing digital sales likely leave several big launches ranked lower than their true totals.

Overview

  • Circana’s March report, released Wednesday, shows U.S. video‑game spending up 12 percent year over year to $5.3 billion.
  • Hardware spending jumped 69 percent to $500 million as Nintendo’s Switch 2 led units and dollars, with Mat Piscatella pointing to Pokémon Pokopia as the key driver.
  • By dollar sales, MLB The Show 26 ranked No. 1 for March, followed by Resident Evil: Requiem, WWE 2K26, Marathon at No. 4, and Pokémon Pokopia at No. 5.
  • Circana’s charts exclude some digital sales, including Nintendo’s, so Pokopia and Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert are likely undercounted in the published rankings.
  • Marathon’s No. 4 finish is notable given its $39.99 price, with analysts estimating about 1.2 million first‑month sales, while Steam concurrents fell from roughly 88,000 at launch to about 15,000–20,000 a month later.