As Nintendo Switch 2 breaks records, game subscription spending hits another all-time high in the US — boding well for Xbox Game Pass?

Centre text reading "Game Pass" with the Xbox logo to the left of it. The background consists of several games such as Tony Hawks, Gears of War, Ninja Gaiden and The Outer Worlds 2.
Subscription spending continues to climb in the U.S. (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Video game subscription spending reached a new monthly all-time high in the U.S. in June 2025.

That's according to the ever-insightful Circana executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella, who shared details on video game spending during the month via a Bluesky thread on Wednesday.

Per Piscatella, the Nintendo Switch 2 sold 1.6 million units, setting a record for the highest launch-month sales for video game hardware in the U.S, causing an eye-popping 249% increase in hardware spending year-over-year. Naturally, the Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling console for the month in units and dollar sales.

Interestingly, non-mobile video game subscription spending (which includes services like Xbox Game Pass) reached an all-time high for a month again, supplanting the previous all-time monthly high that was just set for May 2025.

Total video game spending for the month reached $5.7 billion, up 22% year-over-year.

Bandai Namco and FromSoftware's Elden Ring Nightreign stayed on top of the sales charts, holding the number one place it achieved in May. Meanwhile, PlayStation and Kojima Productions' Death Stranding 2: On the Beach took second place, but did not chart in the top 20 for the year so far.

Nintendo's Mario Kart World which is $80 in the U.S. — took third place. Notably, this does not include

Overall, total video game spending for the month reached $5.7 billion, up 22% year-over-year.

Below, you'll see the best-selling games of June 2025 and the year so far. As always, Circana tracks game sales through dollar amounts, not copies sold. Some publishers, like Nintendo, also do not share digital data, while developers like Larian don't share any data at all.

June 2025 Circana sales charts: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.

1. Elden Ring Nightreign
2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
3. Mario Kart World*
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
5. Stellar Blade
6. Forza Horizon 5
7. MLB The Show 25**
8. Minecraft****
9. Grand Theft Auto 5
10. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma
11. Split Fiction
12. EA Sports FC 25
13. Elden Ring
14. NBA 2K25
15. Red Dead Redemption 2
16. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered
17. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017)
18. Cyberpunk 2077
19. Assassin's Creed Shadows
20. WWE 2K25

June 2025 Circana sales charts: Here are the best-selling games of the year in the U.S.

1. Monster Hunter Wilds
2. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered
3. Assassin's Creed Shadows
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
5. MLB The Show 25**
6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
7. WWE 2K25
8. Elden Ring Nightreign
9. Split Fiction
10. NBA 2K25
11. Forza Horizon 5
12. Sid Meier's Civilization VII
13. Minecraft****
14. PGA Tour 2K25
15. Grand Theft Auto 5
16. DOOM: The Dark Ages
17. EA Sports FC 25
18. Red Dead Redemption 2
19. Madden NFL 25
20. Marvel's Spider-Man 2


*Denotes no digital sales data
**Denotes no digital sales data on Xbox or Nintendo Switch
****Denotes no digital sales data on Nintendo Switch

I'm curious how far subscription spending will climb

It's fairly notable that video game subscription spending has reached a new monthly high in the U.S. twice in a row. Obviously infinite growth isn't possible, but could it happen again?

If so, what'll the be game (or games) that cause it to grow again? These are the questions in my mind at the moment.

Looking ahead, July's spending should mostly be relegated to the continued early story of the Nintendo Switch 2. August however, brings Helldivers 2 to Xbox Series X|S, and I'm very curious what we'll see then.

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Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Bluesky ‪@samueltolbert.bsky.social‬.

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