Circana Projects U.S. Gaming Industry Spending to Reach $62.8B in 2026
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 11 2026
0mins
Should l Buy SONY?
Circana's Mat Piscatella said that the U.S. video game industry enters 2026 with the potential to reach a new record high in consumer spending, following a year of slight growth driven by new hardware, rising subscription engagement, and robust player demand across platforms. According to Circana's latest Games Market Dynamics report, total U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content, and accessories reached $60.7B in 2025, marking a +1.4% increase over 2024. Circana projects U.S. video game industry spending to rise +3% to $62.8B in 2026, surpassing the current all-time high of $61.7B set in 2021. This growth is expected to be fueled by the second year of Nintendo Switch 2 (NTDOY), unprecedented anticipation for Take-Two's (TTWO) "Grand Theft Auto VI," and continued strength in subscription-based content. Key opportunities and challenges for the gaming industry in 2026, according to Circana, include: Switch 2 sales; "GTA VI" headlining a software surge; subscription spending remaining strong; hardware pressure from component costs; consumer behavior shifts, and emerging disruptors, including Valve's upcoming Steam Machines. Other publicly traded companies in the space include Electronic Arts (EA), GameStop (GME), NetEase (NTES), Tencent (TCEHY), Microsoft (MSFT), Sony (SONY), and Ubisoft (UBSFY).
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Analyst Views on SONY
Wall Street analysts forecast SONY stock price to rise
1 Analyst Rating
1 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 23.060
Low
34.00
Averages
34.00
High
34.00
Current: 23.060
Low
34.00
Averages
34.00
High
34.00
About SONY
Sony Group Corp is a Japan-based company engaged in the games & network services (G&NS), music, movies, entertainment technology & services (ET&S), imaging & sensing solutions (I&SS) and other businesses. It has seven business segments. G&NS segment is involved in network service business, the manufacture and sale of home video game consoles and software. The Music segment mainly includes music production, music publishing and video media platform businesses. The Movies segment mainly includes film production, television program production and media network businesses. The ET&S field mainly includes the television business, audio, video business, still image, video camera business, smartphone business and Internet-related service business. The I&SS segment mainly includes the image sensor business. The Financial segment is involved in the insurance business and banking business. The Other segment consists of activities such as disc manufacturing business and recording media business.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Acquisitions and Investments: Microsoft made a $75 billion bet by acquiring Activision Blizzard in 2023; however, current generation Xbox consoles have not matched the popularity of Sony's PlayStation or Nintendo's Switch, leading to the closure of several game development studios.
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See More
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- Future Strategy: Sharma emphasized that games will always be art, rejecting short-term efficiency pursuits, and committed to integrating AI with gaming to ensure unique and innovative experiences that meet player expectations.
See More
