After a sluggish January, February 2026 brought a steady stream of new releases that reshuffled the U.S. sales charts. Leading the charge was Resident Evil Requiem, which debuted as the month's best-selling game and currently holds the title for the entire year. While specific U.S. sales figures aren't available, Capcom reports that the game has sold 6 million copies globally, making it the fastest-selling entry in the Resident Evil franchise to date.
Despite the influx of new titles, overall gaming spending saw minimal growth. According to Circana's monthly report, analyzed by Mat Piscatella, total spending rose only 1% year-over-year, with content spending remaining flat and accessories dropping 2%. Hardware was the exception, surging 22% to $326 million, largely driven by the Nintendo Switch 2, which wasn't on the market at this time last year. The Switch 2's success offset declines in other consoles, though the PS5 still led in both dollar and unit sales. Notably, the Switch 2 is performing 45% better than its predecessor did at the nine-month mark, with both consoles having experienced a Black Friday during their respective launches.
Content spending declined across most categories, except for non-mobile subscriptions, which jumped 27%. This is surprising given the strong debut of Resident Evil Requiem, which topped both the monthly and yearly charts. Other notable releases included Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined at No.9 for February and 14th for the year, Mario Tennis Fever at No.11 (No.1 on Switch 2), God of War: Sons of Sparta at No.14 (No.6 on PlayStation), My Hero Academia: All's Justice at No.17, and the Resident Evil Generation Pack at No.20. Interestingly, the Generation Pack—bundling Resident Evil 7, Village, and Requiem—outsold Requiem alone on the Switch, ranking No.4 versus No.6, indicating strong demand from Nintendo fans.
Comparing to February 2025 highlights how quiet this month was. Last year saw major debuts like Monster Hunter Wilds (No.1), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (No.2), Civ VII (No.3), PGA Tour 2K25 (No.4), and Avowed (No.7). However, there were some software spikes: Diablo II: Remastered soared from No.195 to No.13 due to the Steam release of the Infernal Edition, and Doom: The Dark Ages climbed from No.92 to No.9 on PC charts thanks to anniversary sale promotions.
*Note: Some or all digital sales are excluded from Circana's data, as publishers like Nintendo do not share certain digital information for this report.
