Borderlands 4 tops the September sales charts, followed shortly after by some of the month’s horror titles, according to industry-tracking firm Circana. The month follows in August’s pattern by showing an upward trend in overall sales, thanks in part to the aforementioned games and in part to the Switch 2.
| September 2025 Dollar Sales, Millions | Sep 2024 | Sep 2025 | Change |
| Total Video Game Sales (Projected to Total Market) | $4,388 | $4,841 | 10% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $3,909 | $4,320 | 11% |
| Video Game Hardware | $261 | $324 | 24% |
| Video Game Accessories | $218 | $197 | -10% |
“September 2025 projected U.S. total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories increased by 10% when compared to a year ago, reaching $4.8 billion,” said Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive director of video games, in a statement. “It was the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year spending growth for the US video game market. Several hit new releases combined with continued strong performance from Nintendo Switch 2 hardware and non-mobile video game subscription content spending to fuel the gains.”
According to Circana’s findings, Nintendo’s Switch 2 console continues to offset year-on-year declines in other consoles. Hardware sales for the January-September period are above the total spending for the same period in 2024, but not quite enough to beat the same period for 2023.
| Year-to-Date 2025 Dollar Sales, Millions | YTD 2024 | YTD 2025 | Change |
| Total Video Game Sales (Projected to Total Market) | $41,444 | $42,172 | 2% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $36,850 | $37,165 | 1% |
| Video Game Hardware | $2,652 | $3,183 | 20% |
| Video Game Accessories | $1,942 | $1,825 | -6% |
Circana also notes that accessory spending has dropped overall, as part of a continuous decline, with the Gamepad segment taking the biggest hit. Spending on remote play devices has also dropped 9% in the year-to-date, though Circana also notes that the attach rate of PlayStation Portal devices to PS5 hardware is over 5% now.
Circana September 2025 | Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Title | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Borderlands 4 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 2 | 1 | NBA 2K26 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 3 | NEW | EA Sports FC 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | NEW | Ghost of Yotei | Sony (Corp) |
| 5 | 2 | Madden NFL 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | 5 | Helldivers II | Sony (Corp) |
| 7 | NEW | Silent Hill: f | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 8 | NEW | Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | Sega |
| 9 | NEW | Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 10 | 4 | Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater | Konami Digital Ent. |
| 11 | 6 | EA Sports College Football 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 12 | NEW | NHL 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 13 | NEW | Digimon Story: Time Stranger | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 14 | NEW | Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2* | Nintendo |
| 15 | 12 | Minecraft^ | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
| 16 | 15 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 17 | 14 | Grand Theft Auto V | Nintendo |
| 18 | 8 | Donkey Kong Bananza* | Nintendo |
| 19 | 10 | Kickoff Bundle (2025) | Electronic Arts |
| 20 | 20 | Red Dead Redemption II | Take-Two Interactive |
^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included
September might have the greatest number of new games on it so far this year: Almost half of the list is made up of new releases. Most of the games on the list are from established franchises, with Ghost of Yotei being the only addition that could perhaps claim to be from a relatively new series. There are no completely new intellectual properties represented on the list, unless one counts Minecraft.
Yotei has the name recognition that comes with being the follow-up to Sucker Punch’s hit title Ghost of Tsushima. It doesn’t come wholly without controversy, however, as one developer was fired for an incendiary joke. Piscatella confirmed on Bluesky that the game “did great” with its sales performance comparable to its predecessor.
Returning franchises take up most of the best-seller list
Other than Yotei, all of the other games on the list are from long-established franchises. Borderlands 4, of course, tops the list, proving the series is still a sales juggernaut. It managed to beat out EA Sports FC 26, though likely not by much as both games made it onto the year-to-date bestseller chart (see below). NHL 26 is also a familiar EA Sports franchise to make it onto the list.
Other franchises that make an appearance on the list are similarly unsurprising, such as Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. The Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 bundle despite Circana not having access to Nintendo’s digital sales.
But franchises that are perhaps a surprise to see on the list are Silent Hill and Digimon, which appear in the form of Silent Hill f and Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Silent Hill as a franchise has been relatively quiet until last year’s launch of Silent Hill 2 Remake brought it back to mainstream focus in a big way. Digimon has maintained cult status in the monster-catching genre, and was also the second best-selling game of the month on PC.
Circana September 2025: 20 best-selling games of 2025 so far
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Title | Publisher |
| 1 | 5 | NBA 2K26 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 2 | 1 | Monster Hunter: Wilds | Capcom USA |
| 3 | NEW | Borderlands 4 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 4 | 2 | EA Sports College Football 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | 3 | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 6 | 4 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 7 | 10 | Madden NFL 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | 6 | MLB: The Show 25^^ | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
| 9 | 7 | Elden Ring: Nightreign | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 10 | 8 | WWE 2K25 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 11 | 9 | Kingdom Come: Deliverance II | Plaion |
| 12 | 12 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 13 | 11 | Split Fiction | Electronic Arts |
| 14 | 15 | Minecraft^ | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
| 15 | NEW | EA Sports FC 26 | Electronic Arts |
| 16 | 13 | EA Sports MVP Bundle (2025) | Electronic Arts |
| 17 | 14 | NBA 2K25 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 18 | NEW | Ghost of Yotei | Sony (Corp) |
| 19 | 21 | Helldivers II | Sony (Corp) |
| 20 | 16 | Civilization VII [Sid Meier’s] | Take-Two Interactive |
^^ Digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox platforms not included
Three new games making it onto the year-to-date bestseller list has been a relative anomaly this year, though EA Sports FC 26’s inclusion is perhaps unsurprising. Borderlands 4 is also an appropriate inclusion considering its predecessor, Borderlands 3, also appeared on the 2019 charts (Circana was called the NPD Group at the time).