Marvel's Wolverine led U.S. game sales in September as PS5 spending rose 43%

Marvel's Wolverine was the best-selling video game in the U.S. in September, according to Circana data published on October 22, 2026, by Mat Piscatella, Circana's executive director for video games. The Insomniac Games title went on sale on September 15, 2026, only on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro, and it entered Circana's monthly chart at No. 1 ahead of NBA 2K27 and EA Sports FC 27.

The wider market slipped. Projected U.S. spending across content, hardware and accessories fell 1% from a year earlier to $4.8 billion. Year to date, spending is 3% behind 2025's pace at $41.0 billion. Circana's September covers a five-week tracking period, from August 30 to October 3, 2026.

Hardware: PlayStation up, Xbox and Switch 2 down

Hardware spending rose 12% to $362 million. PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales grew 43% and PS5 unit sales 22%, and the PS5 led all platforms in both units and dollars. Sony's dollar share of the hardware market reached its highest level for a month since May 2025.

Total hardware units still fell 3%, so the average amount spent per console rose. Circana's September report does not say why, but in its July report it said “higher hardware prices driven by the RAM and component crisis” had hurt PS5 and Xbox Series sales, and that a Switch 2 price rise was due on September 1, 2026. Xbox console unit sales fell to an all-time September low; the previous low was set in September 2025.

The swing is sharp. For July, Circana reported U.S. hardware spending down 29% to $282 million, the lowest July total since 2020, with unit sales down on every console platform.

The top 10

Eight of the ten were new entries. For the year to date, NBA 2K27 moved to No. 1, ahead of Resident Evil: Requiem and 007 First Light.

Content and subscriptions

Content spending fell 2% to $4.2 billion and is also 2% behind 2025 for the year at $36.3 billion. Non-mobile subscription spending fell 5%, the first year-on-year monthly drop in subscription spending since February 2024. In July, subscriptions had been the only category still growing, up 6%.

What comes next

With 2026 spending 3% behind last year's pace after September, the last three months will decide how the year compares. U.S. consumers spent $60.7 billion on video games in 2025, the second-highest total on record after 2021's $61.7 billion, according to data released in February by the Entertainment Software Association, Circana and Sensor Tower; Circana and Sensor Tower restated the 2025 total to $60.8 billion in March. The biggest release on the calendar is Grand Theft Auto VI, which Rockstar Games lists for November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

PlayStation's store page lists content descriptors for Marvel's Wolverine including Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language. Here is how ESRB ratings work.