May 2025 Circana (NPD) Thread + Predictions (Delayed to July 9)

[trunkswd]

May 2025 Circana (NPD) covers the four-week period from May 4 to 31 and will be released on June 18.

Since Circana (NPD) leaks don't happen nearly as often as it used to and hardware revenue is something we do get, be sure to include revenue in your predictions.

Feel free to also predict what you think the top software games will be for the month.

As a reminder, Microsoft increased the price of the Xbox Series X|S on May 1. However, it took several days for retailers to increase the price.

Example prediction:

[Total Hardware Revenue]

1. [#1 selling console] XXX,000
2. [#2 selling console] XXX,000
3. [#3 selling console] XXX,000

VGChartz US estimates for May 2024:

1. PS5 - 239K
2. NS - 129K
3. XSX|S - 114K

VGChartz US estimates for April 2025:

1. PS5 - 235K
2. XSX|S - 118K
3. NS - 85K

RESULTS

TLDR:

Units: PS5 > NS > XS
Revenue: PS5 > XS > NS

Unit sales:

• PS5 down mid single-digit %
• NS down low 40s %
• XS down mid 30s %

Dollar sales:

• PS5 up 3%
• NS down 44%
• XS down 30%

Link to the VGChartz article here.

PS5 Best-Seller in the US in May, Elden Ring Nightreign Debuts in 1st

The PlayStation 5 was once again the best-selling console in the US in May 2025 in terms of units sold and dollar sales, according to figures from Circana (formerly The NPD Group). Circana includes the dates for the four-week period of May 4 to May 31.

The Nintendo Switch was the second best-selling console in terms of units sold, followed by the Xbox Series X|S in third place. The Xbox Series X|S came in second in terms of dollar sales.

In terms of units sales, the PlayStation 5 is down in the mid single-digit percent range, the Nintendo Switch is down in the low 40s percent, and the Xbox Series X|S is down in the mid 30s percent.

In terms of dollar sales, the PlayStation 5 is up three percent year-on-year, the Nintendo Switch is down 44 percent, and the Xbox Series X|S is down 30 percent. This month saw Microsoft increase the price of the Xbox Series X|S.

Digital SKUs for May accounted for 79 percent of Xbox Series X|S sales and 49 percent of PlayStation 5 sales.

Overall spending on video games in May increased one percent year-on-year from $4.03 billion to $4.05 billion. Spending on video game content increased two percent from 3.66 billion to $3.73 billion, while video game hardware sales decreased 13 percent from $197 million to $172 million. Spending on accessories decreased six percent from $165 million to $154 million.

In terms of 2024 total sales, overall spending on video games is down six percent year-on-year from $23.32 billion to $21.84 billion. Spending on video game content decreased five percent from $20.72 billion to $19.76 billion, while video game hardware sales dropped 26 percent from $1.49 billion to $1.11 billion. Spending on accessories decreased 12 percent from $1.011 billion to $0.97 billion.

"May 2025 projected U.S. total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories grew 1% when compared to a year ago, to $4.1 billion," said Circana Executive Director and Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella. "Year-to-date spending finished the month 6% behind 2024’s pace, at $21.8 billion."

He added, "May video game content spending increased 2% when compared to a year ago, to $3.7 billion. The growth was led by a 29% gain in non-mobile subscription spending when compared to May 2024."

The PlayStation 5 Dual Sense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was the best-selling accessory in terms of units and dollar sales in May.

The software charts got an upgrade this month as they now include "digital PC revenues from Battle.net, Bethesda.net, EA App, Epic Games Store, Rockstar Store, Steam, Ubisoft Store, and Microsoft Store for participating panel publishers." There is also a new best-selling PC titles chart that can be viewed below that aggregates all the available PC storefronts data.

Elden Ring Nightreign was the best-selling game in May and instantly became the 11th best-selling game of 2025. It was the best-selling game on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Doom: The Dark Ages debuted in second place and after one month is the 16th best-selling game of 2025. It came in second on the PlayStation and PC charts, and third on the Xbox charts.

F1 25 debuted in 15th place and Capcom Fighting Collection 2 debuted in 19th place.

Star Wars: Battlefront II shot up the charts from 135th in April to 12th place in May. It was the fifth best-selling game on the PC aggregated chart.

Spending on subscription services reached an all-time high in the US in May with $0.6 billion. This is the third straight month of growth. This is "well above" July, August, and September 2024. Piscatella suggests the increase is due to the "pressures of higher prices in everyday spending categories like food and general economic uncertainty has folks looking for value."

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for May 2025:

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in 2025 year-to-date:

Here are the top 10 best-selling premium games on PlayStation platforms in May 2025:

Here are the top 10 best-selling premium games on Xbox platforms in May 2025:

Here are the top 10 best-selling premium games on Nintendo platforms in May 2025:

Here are the top 10 best-selling premium games on PC in May 2025:

Last edited by trunkswd - on 09 July 2025