Image: Push Square
After beating the Switch 2’s sales in January and February, the five-year-old PS5 could not complete the hat-trick in March.
New US sales data from Circana reveals that while Sony’s console enjoyed a 3% increase year-over-year, it fell behind Nintendo’s new hybrid in both units and dollar sales for the period spanning 1st March through 4th April.
The price of all PS5 models jumped on 2nd April and the console hit a 2026 high prior to that as consumers flocked to stores to pick up new consoles prior to the increase. It’s expected the remainder of the year will be rough for the system, outside of special promotions and major releases.
March 2026 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights Thread from Circana – US video game spending jumped 12% in March, driven by console content and hardware. Crimson Desert, MLB The Show 26 and Pokémon Pokopia were among several new releases fueling overall spending growth.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T13:00:07.429Z
It’s worth noting that Pokémon Pokopia will have helped power the Switch 2’s results here, even though its chart placement (in fifth position) is somewhat unexceptional due to Nintendo’s decision to not share digital sales data.
MLB The Show 26 and Marathon Kill It
Outside of hardware sales, though, two Sony published games – MLB The Show 26 and Marathon – absolutely killed it.
The former topped the charts with the “second highest total in franchise history”, beaten only by MLB The Show 21. That’s despite digital data for Nintendo and Xbox being excluded.
It’s currently the second best-selling game of the year, behind only Resident Evil Requiem, which is now ranked among the top five Resident Evil games by units in US history.
Marathon, meanwhile, is now the sixth best-selling game of 2026 so far, which contrasts lowly estimates assigned to the game by Alinea Analytics.
On PS5 it ranked as the sixth best-selling game, while it was third on Xbox and first on PC. That does appear to be consistent with the guesstimates alluded to above, although it’s assumed games are selling a much higher quantity of units on the PS5 overall compared to Microsoft’s machines.
2026 Year-to-Date Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T13:00:07.432Z
We’ve included all of the relevant charts below, but one additional thing worth noting here is that overall industry spend is up 12% year-over-year, meaning we’re moving in the right direction despite a challenged economy.
USA Software Sales Top 20: March 2026
MLB The Show 26^^
Resident Evil Requiem
WWE 2K26
Marathon
Pokémon Pokopia*
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
NBA 2K26
Minecraft^
EA Sports FC 26
GTA 5
Battlefield 6
Red Dead Redemption 2
Ghost of Yotei
Crimson Desert*
Helldivers 2
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Pokémon Legends: Z-A*
Mario Kart World*
Madden NFL 26
USA PS5, PS4 Software Sales Top 10: March 2026
MLB The Show 26
WWE 2K26
Resident Evil Requiem
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
NBA 2K26
Marathon
EA Sports FC 26
Ghost of Yotei
Crimson Desert*
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
* Digital sales excluded
^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms excluded
^^ Digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox platforms excluded
[source bsky.app]
See Also
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.