U.S. Physical Game Spending Is Up 5% in 2026, Thanks to Game-Key Cards and Switch 2
U.S. consumer spending on new physical games is up 5 percent year-over-year so far in 2026, the first growth in more than a decade, according to Circana. The increase is largely driven by a 631-percent jump in spending on game-key cards, offsetting a 3-percent drop in everything else, with Circana's Mat Piscatella citing Switch 2 and publishers leaning more into game-key cards. Overall content spending for August was down 10 percent, and NBA 2K27 was the month's best-selling game.