Switch 2 tops US sales

Nintendo’s Switch 2 was the best-selling game console in the United States in March, overtaking Sony’s PlayStation 5 in both units sold and dollars. (gamesindustry.biz) Circana said U.S. spending on game hardware rose 69% from a year earlier to $500 million in March 2026. The research firm said Switch 2 led that increase, while PlayStation 5 hardware spending was up 3% from March 2025. (gamesindustry.biz) The March reporting period ran from March 1 to April 4, and Circana ranked Switch 2 first for both the month and 2026 year to date. PlayStation 5 ranked second on both measures after leading the first two months of the year. (vgchartz.com) Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said Pokémon Pokopia was the main force behind the March jump in Switch 2 sales. Bloomberg reported the game’s popularity helped push Nintendo back to the top of the hardware chart. (bloomberg.com) That March result added to a broader early-sales trend for Nintendo’s new machine. Circana said Switch 2 continues to run ahead of the original Switch on a launch-aligned basis, and other outlets citing the firm described it as the second-fastest-selling console in tracked U.S. history. (gamespot.com) The software chart showed a more mixed picture than the hardware chart. MLB: The Show 26 was March’s best-selling game in the U.S., while Pokémon Pokopia ranked fifth on Circana’s list, which does not include Nintendo’s digital sales. (vgchartz.com) That reporting gap matters for Nintendo releases because Circana’s public rankings can undercount their full sales footprint when digital downloads are excluded. Pokémon Pokopia’s role in hardware demand was therefore clearer in console sales than in the published software chart. (gamespot.com) March also lifted the wider U.S. game business. Circana said total consumer spending across hardware, content, and accessories rose 12% to $5.3 billion, with content spending up 8% to $4.5 billion. (gamesindustry.biz) For Nintendo, the immediate test is whether March was a one-game spike or the start of steadier demand. For now, the U.S. sales chart shows Switch 2 moved from a launch story to the market leader in a single month. (bloomberg.com)