U.S. Physical Game Spending Rose 5% in 2026 Thanks to Game-Key Cards

Circana reports U.S. spending on new physical games is up 5% year-over-year in 2026, the first growth in over a decade, driven by a 631% jump in game-key card spending. Game-key card releases grew from 10 to 64 titles, largely due to the Switch 2.

• Game-key card spending jumped 631% while other physical games fell 3%
• Game-key card releases grew from 10 to 64 titles year-over-year
• Total August content spending fell 10% to $4.3 billion
• Hardware unit sales dropped 15%, the lowest August since 2013