007 First Light was the highest-grossing paid game in the United States in May 2026, topping a Circana-tracked sales chart in which all four best-selling paid titles of the month were new releases, according to data shared by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella.

The release cadence lifted total U.S. consumer spending on video games, hardware and accessories to $4.18 billion, a 3% increase compared with the same month in 2025. Software accounted for $3.76 billion of that figure, up 1% year-over-year, while hardware jumped 38% to $249 million and accessories grew 8% to $168 million.

What did the May release calendar deliver?

Four May launches locked down the chart's top positions: 007 First Light at No. 1, Forza Horizon 6 at No. 2, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight at No. 3 and Subnautica 2 at No. 4. Nintendo's Yoshi and the Mysterious Book rounded out the debut cohort at No. 8, placing five new entries on the ten-position chart. The remaining slots went to multi-month catalog titles, with Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream slipping four places to No. 5, MLB: The Show 26 dropping two to No. 6, Crimson Desert falling four to No. 7, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 climbing two to No. 9 and Mario Kart World holding steady at No. 10.

What drove the 38% hardware surge?

Console spending rose 38% year-over-year to $249 million, with the Nintendo Switch 2 the month's top-selling hardware item by both revenue and units, Circana's data shows. Accessories added $168 million to the total, an 8% year-over-year increase that signals peripheral demand kept pace with platform sales rather than outpacing them. The breakdown tracks a market in which first-party platform momentum and a stacked launch window pulled consumer spending forward in May.

How complete are these rankings?

Circana's chart blends three data sources, a distinction that matters for studios interpreting the rankings. Digital sales for Forza Horizon 6, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 came directly from publishers. Circana forecasts supplied the digital figures for 007 First Light, Subnautica 2, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, Crimson Desert, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, and Mario Kart World. MLB: The Show 26's digital sales combined publisher-reported figures with Circana estimates.

What's worth watching in the June chart?

Two signals stand out for studios mapping the rest of 2026. June becomes the first real test of whether 007 First Light, Forza Horizon 6 and the LEGO Batman and Subnautica 2 launches can hold positions against the typical post-launch decay curve, after a month in which all four sat at the chart's summit. Separately, the 38% year-over-year hardware surge concentrates in a single SKU; a second consecutive month at that level would clarify whether Switch 2 demand is structural or largely a launch-pull effect.