Marvel's Wolverine clawed its way to the top of the US sales chart in September, and it dragged PlayStation 5 hardware up with it. According to Circana's monthly figures, PS5 hardware dollar sales jumped 43% year on year, while Switch 2 and Xbox Series both slipped.
Circana's analyst Mat Piscatella shared the numbers on Bluesky, which we couldn't check directly, so every figure below is attributed to VGC and Kotaku, which both reported them on October 22.
The chart: Wolverine first, eight new games in the top ten
VGC lists Circana's September top ten, ranked by physical and full-game digital dollar sales:
- Marvel's Wolverine
- NBA 2K27
- EA Sports FC 27
- Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Wardogs
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Halloween: The Game
- Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
- Madden NFL 27
Eight of those ten were new releases, VGC notes. That's an unusually fresh chart. Annual sports games like NBA 2K27, FC 27 and Madden NFL 27 usually fill these lists, so seeing a new Fire Emblem, a Dawnwalker and an Onimusha in the same top ten says September had real variety. And Wolverine didn't just win the month. Piscatella said it posted "the highest launch month full game dollar sales for a Sony published title since the February 2024 debut of Helldivers II," as quoted by Kotaku. Kotaku adds that it's already 11th for the year to date, from a single month on sale.
Hardware: a good month for PS5, a rough one for everyone else
Here's the twist: the console numbers split hard by platform. VGC reports these year-on-year changes for September:
- PS5: dollar sales up 43%, units up 22%
- Switch 2: dollar sales down 12%, units down 14%
- Xbox Series: dollar sales down 2%, units down 27%
Overall hardware units fell 3%, per VGC. It also reports that Xbox console unit sales hit an all-time September low, below the record low set a year earlier, and that Sony's share of hardware dollars was its highest in any month since May 2025. Kotaku's unit figures match: PS5 up 22%, Switch 2 down 14%, Xbox Series down 27%.
Why is the dollar jump so much bigger than the unit jump for PS5? Neither report breaks it down. But when dollars grow almost twice as fast as units, buyers are paying more per console on average. Read that as a pattern in the numbers, not a confirmed cause.
The bigger picture
Before anyone throws a parade: Kotaku reports that total US spending on games, hardware and accessories actually fell 1% to $4.8 billion in September, and that spending is 3% behind 2025's pace for the year so far, at $41.0 billion. So one huge exclusive lifted PlayStation, not the whole market.
For players, the takeaway is simple. Big exclusives still move consoles, and Wolverine is the clearest proof Sony has had in a while. For Nintendo and Xbox, September was a reminder that the pre-holiday stretch can be quiet without a headline launch.
What's next: Circana's October figures, which should show how Halloween-season releases and Modern Warfare 4 landed. Neither report gives a release date for them yet.
Reporting notes