Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mat Piscatella

@matpiscatella.bsky.social

25K followers 840 following 4.6K posts

Senior Director & Video Game Industry Thought Leader at Circana. Formerly of Activision and Warner Bros Games. I helped get one of your favorite games greenlit.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 5d

Upcoming U.S. video game market results from Circana:
Coverage Month - Public Release Date

Aug (Aug 3 - Aug 30) - Oct 8
Sep (Aug 31 - Oct 4) - Oct 22
Oct (Oct 5 - Nov 1) - Nov 20
Nov (Nov 2 - Nov 29) - Dec 17

Digital Data Sharing Participating Publishers:

2 1 38

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 52m

Not really... Mafia ranking so high was a nice surprise tho.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 1h

Huge thanks to @giantbomb.bsky.social and everyone who checked it out.

We talked about hardware pricing, and here's the chart I was referring to about how prices have changed over the past several years, if you're into that kind of thing.

2 3 76

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 1h

Check my pinned. Ubisoft is not currently participating as a digital panel member.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 1h

Nintendo is the physical publisher of record on Switch.

1 1

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 3h

They usually launch in different months. NBA 2K is traditionally a September release.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 3h

The bundle accounts for over 80% of Switch 2 hardware sales, so the math from there kind of makes it impossible for standalone physical World sales to chart.

1 2 3

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 3h

Regarding this month's Xbox chart... we are already working with our partners to confirm Helldivers II Xbox digital sales data. I'll post an updated chart if restatement is required.

2 1 27

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Want to highlight this one. Yes, hardware is doing well so far this year (thanks to Nintendo Switch 2 of course) - but it's higher selling prices that are really driving the total spending growth.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Hardware - Year-to-date video game hardware spending has grown 20% versus a year ago, reaching $2.9 billion. Unit sales are up 6.5% year-on-year, with the average selling price increasing by 12.3%, to $453 per unit sold.

6 56

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Yep, the bundle accounts for the majority of hardware sales, so no chance for it to get here with physical only sales to standalone hardware buyers.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

It's both, right? You can't get to these sales levels without the inventory, but the inventory itself has to sell.

Still need to get through the holiday to see where it's really at imo.

1 10

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Circana - U.S. Video Game Industry Best-Selling Title Charts Digital Data Sharing Publishers - August 2025

1 11

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Accessories - August spending on Racing Controllers increased by 7% compared to a year ago, while year-to-date spend grew by 3%, to $78M. The Logitech G29 Driving Force Racing Wheel was the best-selling Racing Controller for both August 2025 and 2025 year-to-date.

1 1 10

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Accessories - August 2025 accessories spending dipped 6% compared to a year ago, to $169M. Year-to-date accessories spending has also fallen by 6%, to $1.6B. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller was the best-selling accessory in both units and dollars for August and 2025 YTD.

1 7

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - August 2025 Top 10 Best-Selling Premium Games on PC Platforms - U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

3 6

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - August 2025 Top 10 Best-Selling Premium Games on Nintendo Platforms - U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

2 1 8

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - August 2025 Top 10 Best-Selling Premium Games on Xbox Platforms - U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

9 14

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - August 2025 Top 10 Best-Selling Premium Games on PlayStation Platforms - U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

1 6

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - “Other evergreen titles like Clash Royale and Free Fire have made comebacks. Free Fire is especially notable for having overtaken Call of Duty: Mobile in the past few months in the US, something it hasn't done since 2022,” said Aune.

1 6

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - “This is a new age of the US top ten. Newcomers like Kingshot and Royal Kingdom are scaling and breaking in, while mainstays like Playrix's Gardenscapes and Homescapes have been banished to the top twenty,” said Sam Aune of Sensor Tower.

1 6

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - Sensor Tower reports the top 10 mobile games by consumer spend in Aug and the chg vs Jul as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, Clash Royale (+2), Pokémon Go (+6), Kingshot (+1), Whiteout Survival (-3), Free Fire (-3) and Royal Kingdom (-1)

2 8

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - Other new releases on the month’s top 20 best-sellers chart included Mafia: The Old Country (3rd), Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (4th), Gears of War: Reloaded (6th) and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (19th).

1 8

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - Madden NFL 26 was the 2nd best-selling game of August across PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo platforms, while placing 1st on the PC aggregated storefront chart.

1 10

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - Madden NFL 26 ranked 2nd on the August best-sellers chart, debuting at #10 year-to-date. The title was also available as part of the EA Sports MVP Bundle (which ranked 8th in the month) and the EA Sports Kickoff Bundle, which placed 9th.

1 8

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - NBA 2K26 was the best-selling premium video game of August, instantly becoming the 5th best-selling game of 2025 year-to-date. It was the month’s best-seller on both PlayStation and Xbox.

1 2 11

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 4h

Content - Non-mobile video game subscription spending grew 25% compared to August 2024, to $0.5 billion. Year-to-date spending is now 20% higher than a year ago.

1 9