Even though many developers are being laid off, consumer spending in gaming was actually up in January 2026, new report reveals

The vibes are rotten out there if you work anywhere near video games. 2026 is yet another year off to a terrible start when it comes to layoffs, project cancellations, and studio closures that often don’t make a lick of sense. Despite all this, though, US consumer spending on video games has gone up year-on-year.

Via GamesIndustry.biz, we’ve gotten a quick look at Circana’s latest data on console and PC content spending during January 2026. The year-on-year rise was of 3% (getting it to $4.3 billion by last month). “This growth was driven by a 23% increase in non-mobile subscription services, generating $596 million in revenue.” We’d been hearing for a while that, even after price increases across the board, premium subscription services were driving a lot of growth these days, and the data continues to back those assessments up.

“Hardware spend reached $248 million, up 16% compared to January 2025” despite PS5 (down 17%), Xbox Series X/S (down 27%), and Nintendo Switch (down 79%) all seeing substantial year-on-year declines. It’s all explained by Nintendo Switch 2’s strong launch period and hold despite a slower-than-desirable Christmas season. PS5 continued to be leading in the US market, though.

Perhaps more shocking (at least to disgruntled Call of Duty fans and outsiders) is that Black Ops 7 has been topping the charts during the January 2026 period. Its initial launch was well below Microsoft and Xbox’s high expectations, but we’re talking about CoD here, and the IP continues to be the rival to beat in the FPS space. It was followed by NBA 2K26, Madden NFL 26, and Minecraft. “Battlefield 6 dropped from No. 3 to No. 5” but continues to perform strongly after its killer launch back in October.

Other highlights include Final Fantasy 7 Remake sneaking into the Top 10 (from way down at No. 255!) after the release of its fantastic Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S ports. Shocking few gamers, “Fallout 4 just made it into the Top 20, rising from No.68 after the second season of Prime Video’s adaptation.” Chances are the modern RPG classic will get another boost after its Switch 2 port arrives tomorrow, 24th February.