All of the data below is US-only and comes from Circana, the former NPD Group, as reported by VGChartz and other outlets. I did not check it against Circana's own September release.
The hardware scoreboard
According to VGChartz, the PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US for September 2026 in both units and dollars. The Nintendo Switch 2 came second and the Xbox Series X|S third. The tracking period ran from August 30 to October 3. VGChartz describes it as four weeks. A commenter on that story argued it spans five, so treat the length as unsettled.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella summarized the year-over-year unit changes this way: total hardware units fell 3%, PS5 rose 22%, Switch 2 fell 14% and Xbox Series fell 27%.
| Console | Unit sales, YoY | Dollar sales, YoY |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | +22% | +43% |
| Xbox Series X|S | −27% | −2% |
| Switch 2 | −14% | Not clear (see below) |
VGChartz reports that PS5 dollar spending rose 43%, Xbox Series X|S fell 2%, and "Nintendo Switch" fell 12%. The source doesn't say whether that last figure means Switch 2 or Nintendo hardware generally, so I've left it unresolved. Also, Sony's dollar share of the hardware market was its highest in a single month since May 2025. That was the month before the Switch 2 launched.
Xbox: a record low, with caveats
The Xbox result is the headline for this audience. Pure Xbox notes that September appears to be a new low for the brand, replacing the record set a year earlier. GameSpot likewise says Xbox Series hardware fell 27% to an all-time September low. This is a US September figure. It doesn't cover worldwide sales, installed base, or Microsoft's gaming revenue.
Piscatella cautioned against reading too much into the month-to-month swings. In a Bluesky post quoted by Pure Xbox, he said Xbox has been up and down, likely driven by supply, with bumps that aren't purely demand driven. He didn't say he was certain.
The broader context is grim. Circana's year-to-date data through August showed Xbox hardware units down 33% and PlayStation units down 25% in the US. Piscatella also said both prices are at all-time US highs and price sensitivity is becoming a real problem. The reported cause is a shortage of memory and storage chips driven by AI data center demand.
Pure Xbox adds one more point. Console sales are struggling across the board amid rising prices and an ongoing component crisis. It also reports that Xbox has reportedly pulled out of sharing digital sales data with Circana, so Xbox first-party software figures may rely more on estimates. Push Square similarly says many companies have stopped providing Circana with digital sales data, leading to projections. Treat the software rankings below with that in mind.
Why PS5 dollars rose faster than units
PS5 dollar sales grew nearly twice as fast as units. That points to a higher average selling price. Kotaku puts an all-digital PS5 at $600 and an equivalent Xbox Series X from $750. Push Square notes that Sony's system is considerably more expensive than when it launched.
Overall US hardware spending still rose. VGChartz reports it went up 12%, from $324 million to $362 million. Units fell 3% while dollars rose 12%. Sony's pricier consoles and a Wolverine-themed controller likely helped, though that explanation is my inference. Circana's data doesn't establish why buyers chose one console over another.
Switch 2 and the bundle effect
A VGChartz commenter pointed to Piscatella's own explanation for the Switch 2 comparison. In September 2025, most buyers took a Mario Kart World bundle at $499. The 2026 comparison is against standalone hardware at the same $499. In effect, there was little visible price change but less in the box. This comes from reader comments relaying Piscatella's thread, not from a primary document. It's a plausible reading, but I haven't verified it.
The wider market
Total US spending on content, hardware and accessories was:
- September: $4.76 billion, down 1% from $4.80 billion.
- Content: $4.18 billion, down 2% from $4.27 billion.
- Accessories: $218 million, up 10% from $199 million.
- Year to date: $41.04 billion, down 3% from $42.23 billion.
- Hardware year to date: $2.91 billion, down 9% from $3.18 billion.
The reporting doesn't break content spending down by mobile, PC, console or subscription. I can't say which segment drove the decline.
Software: Wolverine leads, NBA 2K27 holds the year
Piscatella said Marvel's Wolverine had the highest launch-month full-game dollar sales for a Sony-published title since Helldivers II in February 2024. The game ranks 11th for 2026 so far. The rankings are in dollars, and no unit count has been disclosed. Commenters speculating about global unit sales are guessing.
Other chart details from VGChartz:
- NBA 2K27 placed second for the month. It also overtook Resident Evil: Requiem as the best-selling game of 2026 so far.
- EA Sports FC 27 debuted third and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave fourth.
- The Blood of Dawnwalker debuted fifth and Wardogs sixth.
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword debuted seventh and Halloween: The Game eighth.
- Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve debuted ninth.
VGChartz says eight of the top 10 were new releases, but its text names only nine titles. I can't give you the tenth. The best-selling accessory was the PS5 Limited Edition DualSense Wireless Controller in Wolverine Battle Yellow, ranked first in both units and dollars.
Pure Xbox adds that Xbox's Forza Horizon 6 is still in the year-to-date top 10. That suggests Xbox first-party games are still selling even though Xbox consoles aren't.
What it means for Xbox and PC players
Console price inflation shows no sign of reversing, and Xbox is absorbing most of the pain. GameSpot argues the cause is strategy as much as supply. Xbox has emphasized that an Xbox isn't necessary to play first-party Xbox games. Microsoft's games are on other platforms, so weak Xbox console sales don't necessarily mean weak Xbox game sales. That's analysis, not a reported finding.
For readers who want to play Xbox games, the practical point is that the PC is increasingly a first-class way to do it. The same memory and storage shortage that is lifting console prices may also affect PC hardware costs, though none of the reporting here measures that.
Two things to watch are Circana's October data and any official Sony or Microsoft figures. Sony has not released official Wolverine sales numbers.
Correction (October 22, 2026): The September top-10 list originally named the ninth-place title "Ace Combat 8: Ace of Theve." The correct title is "Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve," per Bandai Namco and Circana reporting.
Update: Circana sees no Xbox hardware uplift from Gears launch (October 29, 2026)
Xbox’s hardware weakness has continued despite the launch of Gears of War: E-Day, according to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella’s interview with The Game Business, published October 29. Piscatella said the game’s console exclusivity had not improved the US hardware trend in the short term. The outlet also reported Nielsen IQ figures showing UK Xbox hardware sales down 22% year over year in October; that is a separate market, not an updated US monthly total.
The Game Business also reports that Xbox attributes constrained console sales to supply, saying demand exceeds availability. Microsoft expects console revenue to decline further over the next three months. That leaves an important distinction unresolved: Piscatella sees no measurable hardware uplift from recent initiatives, while Xbox says availability remains a limiting factor.
On PlayStation, the interview adds evidence beyond our earlier inference about Wolverine’s contribution. According to Piscatella’s account to The Game Business, the limited console bundle sold out, and weekly hardware and accessory sales indicated a Wolverine-related boost. He nevertheless cautioned that overlapping releases make individual games’ contributions difficult to isolate.
For prospective Xbox buyers, the new reporting offers no evidence that the exclusive release has reversed the hardware decline—and no assurance that supply constraints have eased.