The Nintendo Switch 2’s second month on the market was another explosive one, at least in the U.S., where it surpassed 2 million units sold life-to-date, putting it 75% ahead of the unit sales pace set by the Nintendo Switch 1.
This is according to monthly data from Circana, whose analysis was shared with IGN by Mat Piscatella. Nintendo Switch 2 sales in July were so strong that July hardware spending reached $384 million, the highest July hardware spend since July 2008. The Switch 2 was the best-selling console for the month of July, and unshockingly is the best-selling console in the U.S. year-to date in terms of both unit and dollar sales, surpassing the PlayStation 5. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller is now the best-selling accessory of the year in both dollar and unit sales.
Already last month, the Nintendo Switch 2 became the fastest-selling game console of all time in the U.S., surpassing the PlayStation 4. When we asked Piscatella at the time if that meant the Switch 2 could outsell the Switch 1, he offered a cautious take:
What the launch sales of Switch 2 primarily tell us is that they made a lot of Switch 2 to sell at launch. Lifetime sales and launch sales of a console often do not correlate, meaning that some consoles with small launches ended up doing incredibly well lifetime (PS2 only sold 400k in its launch month) while others with big launches ended up not doing as well lifetime. Since launch month demand is rarely satiated by available supply (and it is certainly not a great sign when it is, historically) all we can really get a read on at launch is the confidence of the manufacturer to make so many units available, and the ability of the supply chain to get those units into the market.
But having the biggest launch month sales for any new video game hardware platform is a helluva good start.
On the software charts, July was dominated by new releases. EA Sports College Football 26 debuted at No.1 for July and is already the third best-selling game of the year so far in terms of dollar sales. The EA Sports MVP Bundle, which includes both Madden NFL 26 and College Football 26, followed it at No.2 for July and No.12 for the year-to-date. Donkey Kong Bananza debuted at No.3 for the month of July and No.20 for the year so far on Circana’s rankings, despite Nintendo not sharing digital sales data. And Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 debuted at No.4 for the month of July.
Xbox was also well-represented again on July’s monthly charts. Aside from Tony Hawk, Forza Horizon 5 once again made an appearance thanks to its PlayStation release, this time appearing at No.7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was at No.5, and Grounded 2 debuted at No.8. For Grounded 2, its appearance seems largely based on its PC release, as it was the best-selling PC game of the month in dollar sales. However, it’s nowhere to be found on Xbox’s console rankings, likely due to its Game Pass inclusion and more people choosing to use that subscription for the console version. Microsoft also published four of the top-selling games on both PC (Grounded 2, Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, and Minecraft) and PlayStation (Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Forza, and Minecraft) this month.
Monster Hunter: Wilds remains the best-selling game of the year so far, and is still followed by the Oblivion remaster. Overall software spending was up 4% year-over-year to $4.5 billion thanks to growth in both mobile and non-mobile subscriptions, offsetting a drop in console software spending.
Total games spending for the month of July was up 5% year-over-year to $5.1 billion.
July 2025 U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games:
- EA Sports College Football 26 (NEW)
- EA Sports MVP Bundle (2025) (NEW)
- Donkey Kong Bananza* (NEW)
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 (NEW)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Minecraft*
- Forza Horizon 5
- Grounded 2 (NEW)
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Grand Theft Auto V
- MLB The Show 25*
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- WWE 2K25
- Elden Ring
- NBA 2K25
- Elden Ring: Nightreign
- Split Fiction
- EA Sports FC 25
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- F1 25
* Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana’s data. Some publishers, including Nintendo, do not share certain digital data for this report.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
