Game On: U.S. game spending fell 6% in February, says Circana

Nintendo Switch 2 reportedly set for release in June

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: 

Among this week’s notable releases is Nexon’s (NEXOF) action game “The First Berserker: Khazan,” which launches March 27 for PC, PlayStation 5 (SONY), and Xbox Series X/S (MSFT). Also out this week is Rebellion’s survival-action game “Atomfall,” which releases March 27 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with the game available day one on Xbox Game Pass.

CIRCANA FEBRUARY DATA: 

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that February 2025 projected U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories declined 6% when compared to the same period a year ago, to $4.5B. Spending so far this year is 11% lower than 2024 year-to-date, at $9.0B. Video game content spending in February fell 4% vs YA, to $4.0B. Subscription growth of 9% was offset by declines in Mobile of 4% and full game and add-on content across both Console (-11%), and PC, Cloud and Non-Console VR (-4%). February video game hardware spending fell by 25% when compared to a year ago, to $256M. This is the lowest February total for video game hardware spending since the $184M reached in February 2020. Sony’s PlayStation 5 was once again the best-selling hardware platform of the month across both units and dollars. Xbox Series ranked 2nd in both measures. After each platform’s first 52 months in market, PlayStation 5 unit sales exceed PlayStation 4’s sales pace by 7%, while Xbox Series now trails Xbox One by 19%. Accessories spending in February declined by 8% vs YA, to $220M. Year-to-date accessories spending is now 18% behind 2024’s pace. 2025 year-to-date consumer spending on Gamepads has declined 17% compared to a year ago, while Headset/Headphone spending has fallen 25%. The PlayStation Portal base model was again the month’s best-selling accessory in consumer spending. The PS5 Portal Remote Player Midnight Black ranked 3rd overall, while the PS5 DualSense Edge Wireless Controller Midnight Black placed 5th.

On the software side, Piscatella said that Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Monster Hunter: Wilds” was the best-selling video game of February in the U.S., instantly becoming the best-selling title of 2025 thus far. Launch month dollar sales of “Monster Hunter: Wilds” more than doubled the total “Monster Hunter: Rise” achieved during its March 2021 debut. “Monster Hunter: Wilds” was the best-selling game of February across each of the PlayStation, Xbox and Steam ecosystems, with Steam accounting for more than half of the title’s total dollar sales. The top 4 best-selling games of Feb 2025 were new releases. Joining “Monster Hunter: Wilds” at the top of the chart were Deep Silver’s (THQQF) “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II,” Take-Two’s (TTWO) “Sid Meier’s Civilization VII” and Take-Two’s “PGA Tour 2K25.” Bethesda’s “Avowed” and Sega’s (SGAMY) “Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii” also made the top 10 in 7th and 8th place, respectively. Other top-selling games for the month in the U.S. include Take-Two’s “NBA 2K25,” Activision’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” Take-Two’s “Grand Theft Auto V,” and EA’s (EA) “Madden NFL 25.”

SWITCH 2 LAUNCH: 

With the full reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 (NTDOY) slated for next week, various sources told Insider-Gaming’s Tom Henderson that the new console will launch in June, and that the Japanese video game giant will release games in a three-phase strategy. The first phase involves primarily first-party titles in the early months, with the second stage arriving in October-November for third-party games, and the third phase occurring during the holiday period, Henderson said.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Nintendo as measured by TipRanks.

ACCESSIBLE GAMES INITIATIVE: 

The Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, announced the Accessible Games Initiative, a cross-industry effort to provide consumers with clear information about the accessibility features available in video games. The Accessible Games Initiative was announced at the Game Developers Conference, GDC ,by the ESA and representatives from five founding member companies: Electronic Arts, Google (GOOG), Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and Ubisoft (UBSFY). The primary purpose of the new Accessible Games Initiative is to help provide clear information about whether a specific video game has accessibility features and, if so, what those features are. The initiative is launching with a set of 24 “tags,” all with clear criteria about what each tag means. Sample tags include: clear text, large and clear subtitles, narrated menus, stick inversion and save anytime, among others. Over time, participating companies will place the Accessible Games Initiative tags near their game product information – for example on digital storefronts, product pages or digital catalogues.

MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:

• Ubisoft said “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” passed 1M players on launch day
• Bethesda’s “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” will come to PlayStation 5 on April 17
• Microsoft is working on an Xbox app update that seems to list games on Steam, The Verge reports
• 2024 PS5 exclusive “Astro Bot” has sold over 2.3M units, according to Alinea Analytics

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Originally Posted March 25, 2025 – Game On: U.S. game spending fell 6% in February, says Circana