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New data from the industry analysts at Circana has revealed that consumers are spending a lot less than usual on gaming hardware or the games themselves. Circana's latest report covers the US market in July, and it includes a lot of concerning data.

Over the course of the month, all console platforms sold fewer units than they did in July last year. Hardware spending dropped by 29 percent as a result. That decline is even more shocking than it appears.

According to the report, overall spending on hardware in July dropped to a low that's close to July 2020, back when pandemic-fuelled component shortages made consoles hard to find. Despite ample hardware availability today, it seems high prices have achieved the same effect as not having any hardware in stock.

Image credit: Eurogamer

July also saw another notable decline in the amount of money spent on physical software. New physical game sales fell to an all-time low, a figure not seen since tracking began in 1995.

According to the report, 32 percent of spending on new physical games so far this year went to PlayStation, and 63 percent to Nintendo. This is especially interesting in light of Sony's decision to end physical disc manufacturing for PlayStation starting January 2028.

The best-selling game in July was Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, that's the port that arrived on PS4 and PS5 in the middle of month. The original Black Ops, which launched at the same time and is part of a bundle that includes both games, landed at number five. This is easy to believe, considering the two ports are estimated to have sold 11 million copies combined.

Halo: Campaign Evolved claimed the number six spot overall, clearly struggling to get anywhere close to the sales volume of the Black Ops ports. Elsewhere in the top 10, other new releases like Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Splatoon Raiders and EA Sports College Football 27 can be seen.

Spending across games, hardware and accessories combined dropped by 10 percent in July compared to last year. Declines across PC, console and mobile all contributed to that slump.

And, just like June, subscription was the only category to see any improvement during July, growing by 6 percent. Given the lower software sales and declining hardware sales, console owners are clearly being careful with where they spend their money, seemingly opting tocontinue playing the same big games rather than buying new ones.

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