Circana: Nintendo Switch 2 helped US physical game spending increase year-on-year for first time since 2009
For the first time since 2009, US physical game spending experienced year-on-year growth, rising 3% for the 12 months ending May 2026 to reach $1.6 billion, according to market research firm Circana. The Nintendo Switch 2’s launch is credited with driving this uptick in boxed game sales.
Despite this growth, the increase is modest, and Circana’s senior director Mat Piscatella emphasized that this is likely a “temporary blip” in the long-term decline of the physical games market. The broader trend shows a consistent decline in boxed sales over the past 15+ years, reflecting the industry’s ongoing shift toward digital distribution. While 2009 marked the last previous year-on-year increase for physical spending, the market was worth $11.5 billion then—demonstrating how significantly the physical retail space has contracted.
Piscatella noted that the sustained decline in physical sales is primarily driven by the “overwhelming majority” of game sales now occurring through digital channels. The Switch 2’s hardware launch appears to have temporarily reversed this trend, likely due to consumers purchasing physical copies of launch titles and early releases for the new console.
This data point underscores the ongoing transition in how players acquire games, with physical media becoming an increasingly niche segment of the overall gaming market. While the Switch 2’s contribution is notable, the analyst’s cautious framing suggests that a return to sustained growth in physical game sales remains unlikely despite this rare year-on-year increase.