While half of the top 10 list in the US were new releases for the month, the other half was made up of older games, like Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, MLB: The Show 26, Crimson Desert, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Mario Kart World.

When taking the whole year into account, Resident Evil Requiem continues to take the top spot for game sales in the US. It is followed by Crimson Desert in second place and MLB: The Show 26 in third place. Despite being a relatively new release, 007 First Light has managed to do incredibly well by taking the fourth spot for the entire year so far, followed by Forza Horizon 6 in fifth. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the only new release to have broken through the top 10 sales for the year, coming in at 7th place.

007 First Light ended up getting quite a few accolades for its performance in May 2026, being the best-selling PlayStation game for the month, as well as the highest “full game dollar sales” of any James Bond game in history.

All in all, Piscatella has reported that total video game spending in the US for May 2026 hit $4.2 billion, which marks a 3 percent increase over May 2025. By the time the month was over, the year-to-date spending was 4 percent higher than last year, coming in at $23 billion.

Interestingly, Piscatella has noted that consoles served as the primary platform for game spending in May 2026 in the US, with total spending having gone up by 25 percent compared to last year. When taking year-to-date figures, console content spending is 13 percent higher. PC and subscriptions haven’t fallen behind either, coming in at 15 percent and 11 percent year-on-year increases, respectively.

Piscatella has also revealed details about console hardware sales in the US for May 2026, noting that both PlayStation and Xbox haven’t been doing too well. While it was the first May faced by PlayStation since 2000, Piscatella has confirmed that May 2026 was the worst May for Xbox since Microsoft launched the division. While there are likely many reasons for console sales falling in this regard, Piscatella also brought up the fact that price hikes have led to consoles simply getting too expensive. Xbox, for example, saw a 22 percent increase in average hardware price since 2025. PlayStation, on the other hand, saw an increase of 33 percent year-on-year.

“Xbox is currently tracking a distant third in hardware sales among the major manufacturers. But they are getting more revenue from each unit sold, enough to make dollar sales grow in May despite the unit drop,” said Piscatella. “If that fits the definition of ‘working’ or not, I don’t know.”

May 2026 U.S. Projected Top 10 Best-Selling Games Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales (Excludes Mobile and Digital Add-On Content)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:00:03.576Z

YTD 2026 U.S. Projected Top 10 Best-Selling Games Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales (Excludes Mobile and Digital Add-On Content)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:00:03.577Z

Content – Console drove content spending growth in May. Total spending on console content increased by 25% compared to a year ago and is now 13% higher year-to-date. PC content (+15% versus a year ago) and subscription spending (+11%) also grew in May.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:00:03.585Z

Content – 007 First Light was May’s leader in full game dollar sales, debuting as the 4th best-seller of 2026 year-to-date. It also led all titles in full game dollar sales on PlayStation platforms in the month.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:00:03.586Z

When taking individual companies into account, Sony’s consoles have seen a steep rise in price to an average of $672. This marks a 33 percent increase from last year. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S, on the other hand, has seen prices go up by 22 percent, to $524.

Curiously, while Xbox unit sales have been going down by 12 percent, spending on Xbox hardware has seemingly gone up when compared to last year. PlayStation, unfortunately, doesn’t have the same benefits, with spending having dropped by 43 percent when compared to May 2025, coupled with a 58 percent drop in console unit sales.

“Xbox is currently tracking a distant third in hardware sales among the major manufacturers. But they are getting more revenue from each unit sold, enough to make dollar sales grow in May despite the unit drop,” said Circana’s Mat Piscatella. “If that fits the definition of ‘working’ or not, I don’t know.”

Nintendo, on the other hand, has continued to see growth in console sales, with 5.9 million units of the Switch 2 having been sold in the US in the console’s first year. This has also made it the second-fastest-selling gaming hardware in the country, right behind the Game Boy Advance, which had sold 6.5 million units in its first year. With a price hike looming over the horizon for the Nintendo Switch 2, however, Piscatella has noted that the coming year “may be a tough one” for the console in terms of hardware sales.

As for software sales, IO Interactive’s 007 First Light has topped the sales charts in the US, followed by Forza Horizon 6 in second place and LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight in third. Fourth place has been taken up by the Early Access release of Subnautica 2. The only other new game in the top-10 chart is Yoshi and the Mystery Book, which debuted at 8th place. The rest of the chart is taken up by games released earlier in the year, like Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream at 5th, MLB: The Show 26 at 6th, Crimson Desert at 7th, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 at 9th, and Mario Kart World at 10th.

Piscatella noted that there weren’t really any anomalies in software sales for the month of May 2026 in the US, while also mentioning that half of the titles in the list were new releases. It is worth noting that three of the top 10 best-sellers in the US were exclusive to Nintendo platforms.

Hardware – The average price paid for a new unit of video game hardware reached $502 in May, up 14% compared to a year ago ($440). May 2026 PlayStation 5 average pricing increased by 33% versus a year ago to $672, with Xbox Series up 22%, to $524.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:00:03.582Z

The narrator for the trailer notes that players exploring the world will “encounter the traces of those who once lived here. Some stories are not tales of great heroes. They begin with desire, regret, and the choices of ordinary people.” The trailer also reiterates that some of the stories that players will get to encounter in The Relic: First Guardian are inspired by traditional Korean folktales and legends.

“They may feel familiar, yet they remain very different in this world,” says the narrator as the protagonist starts a new quest about a man seemingly dropping their axe and getting a golden one in return. This story ended up spreading around the nearby village, and eventually, the nearby lake started getting filled with several axes. This story is experienced through a series of glowing orbs that tell the story of one such person who believed in the legend and decided to throw his own axe into the lake.

Along the way, the protagonist has to take on the ghouls that have seemingly made their home in the area surrounding the lake. Through this, we get to see more of the heavy, slow-paced combat of The Relic: First Guardian. Interestingly, this quest didn’t culminate in an epic boss fight. Rather, the emphasis was on the tragedy of the people who fell for the simple folktale, and as a result, ended up losing their means of making any money so that they could escape their debts.

The trailer also features a few dungeon-crawling segments, as the protagonist explores the world and experiences more of the stories from The Relic: First Guardian. We get to see many of the smaller stories from the game throughout the video’s runtime, while also experiencing some of the epic fights that players will get to experience.

The Relic: First Guardian got a trailer earlier this month, giving us another look at its combat system. The trailer emphasized the fact that the players will have to weave in and out of range as they try to land melee blows on enemies while also avoiding damage.

A trailer from February, which focused on the Korean folktale The Heavenly Maiden and the Woodcutter, showcased how this combat system would work against a singular boss fight. Much like the newer video, that trailer gave us a glimpse at how Korean folktales would be a heavy influence on The Relic: First Guardian, before the player inevitably has to fight against a spectre of the titular “Heavenly Maiden”, who has been corrupted to a horrendous degree.

The Relic: First Guardian is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

As its name implies, the DLC revolves around the protagonist’s trusty Palico, Rudy. The story involves a legendary Felyne who saved the world in the past and happens to be an ancestor of Rudy’s. Said ancestor, Navirou from Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Destruction and the original Monster Hunter Stories, meets Rudy face-to-face, leading to an entirely new adventure.

As part of the DLC, players will also get to take on the cover monster for Monster Hunter World, Nergigante. Navirou seemingly has some connection with the Elder Dragon, and players will have to take it on themselves to learn more (though it can’t be used as a Monstie).

Along with this, Capcom has also revealed more details about the latest free update for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. Among other features, the update allows players who have already finished the story to take on a more difficult version of the final boss. New, stronger Royal Monsters will also start showing up throughout the world. This new tier of difficult monsters can be spotted thanks to a crown on their head and in the Monsterpedia.

For players looking for even more challenging encounters, the update allows Calamitous Elder Dragons and Invasive monsters to also show up as Royal Monsters as well.

The addition of Royal Monsters was announced back in March, shortly after the release of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto had described them as “extremely powerful versions of monsters” that offer players “even more challenging battles.” He recommended that hunters should reach level 90 before taking these monsters on, and bring the “strongest Monsties and strategies to defeat them.”

Unlike traditional Monster Hunter games, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a turn-based RPG that revolves around Riders who can befriend monsters and turn them into Monsties – a portmanteau of Monster and Bestie. In the latest entry of the Stories series, players take on the role of the royal heir of Azuria and its lone Rathalos Rider as they try to discover the secrets behind crystals taking over the environment, known only as “The Encroachment.”

This phenomenon has also caused political tensions among neighboring kingdoms, and the story is kicked off in earnest when the kingdom of Vermeil launches an invasion against Azuria despite the ruler’s sister serving as a ward and hostage. The protagonist, along with their friends, must then embark on a mission to go beyond the northern Meridian and discover the secrets behind The Encroachment and hopefully find a way to stop it.

For more details about Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, take a look at our review, where we gave it a score of 8 out of 10.

Nevertheless, there’s no denying that this hack and slasher was a fun one, and if you’re among those who can’t get enough of it, the new Romeo’s Updated, Man update is bringing a bunch of new costumes and a Photo Mode to let you capture them in all their glory. There are a couple of Hotline Miami ones to look forward to, which you can access via the Costume Change feature found in Romeo’s room on the Space-Time ship.

Three different masks are also available, as are variations of the FBI Space-Time Battle Suit, Tiger Jacket, Demon Jacket, and Caliban County Sheriff Uniform. You can snap all of them via the Photo Mode, which is easily accessible from the pause menu. If you’ve been holding off on giving this one a shot, you’re going to want to take advantage of a generous 20% discount on Steam or grab the new Hotline Miami bundle for 10% off. If you’re playing it on the Xbox Series or PS5, know that similar sales are hitting their respective storefronts pretty soon, so do keep an eye out.

That’s a milestone to be proud of, and Bloober Team is certainly basking in what is sure to be a very satisfying win after that excellent Silent Hill 2 remake. Of course, the team is already looking ahead, teasing the beginnings of a franchise in a statement from Piotr Bableno, its CEO.

“We did not doubt that this moment would come, as the game was extremely warmly received by reviewers and players. We achieved break-even of Cronos in 9 months, which we consider a success, given the huge scale of this venture. Building new brands is much more difficult than it was a few years ago. In this difficult time, we have managed to create the foundations for something that has a chance to become one of the key IPs in our portfolio.”

We’re definitely stoked and waiting for Lazarus, the game’s first DLC, to drop sometime this Fall. If you weren’t keeping up with this one, the DLC takes you back to The Warden’s early days as The Pathfinder, pitting him against challenges that are sure to test his unique skills as he searches for an Essence that clearly means something to him. That’s an interesting premise in a world where The Travellers have been chasing down the very same Essences in the face of overwhelming odds that have often threatened to overwhelm them.

We can’t wait to see what comes next, though, and you can be sure that we’ll provide all the updates as soon as Bloober Team lets us know more.

Thankfully, director Nihei Satoru had some new gameplay to showcase, featuring a brand new Genma: Dohatsu-ten. Unlike Kashin Koji, he appears to be an original creation rather than based on Japanese folklore. That doesn’t make him any less dangerous, however, as he proves more than a match for Musashi with his katana skills.

Besides striking quickly and creating distance with kicks, he can also counter and quickly dodge attacks. And just when you’ve got a handle on his moves, the next phase involves igniting his blade for some projectiles and additional damage.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, with a free demo out now. Deluxe and Premium Editions have been announced, with additional outfits for Musashi, Oni Lady and Izumo no Okuni alongside a variety of charms and cosmetics that alter the look of Musashi’s sword.

Kinoshita explained that the expansion offers three core elements – a brand-new story focused on Norgan, the new region; 12 unique new dungeon challenges for the base game’s areas; and more hairstyles and tattoos for the character editor. Observant players will likely have noticed the new skills, like kung-fu-like melee attacks before launching into the air to shoot an arrow and a flame trail that can be detonated.

While you’ll be solving the mystery of Norgan and taking on new foes, a hefty amount of gameplay revolves around finding Relics through exploration and battle. Appraising these grants new weapons and armor with powerful stats, special effects and unique effects.

Finally, Kinoshita teased that the Fallen Dragon is the “heart” of the tale, and possesses a hollow space where its heart should be. How is it still moving? And why does the mysterious woman Eir pursue it? We’ll find out when Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen launches on October 9th.

Pre-orders will go live soon, but those attending Gamescom can look forward to a hands-on demo. Other exhibits are planned for future gaming shows, so stay tuned.

Did you really think about the playtime? Or if you’d actually be entertained during those hours? That it was a linear experience is only one factor, because even if there were an optional side area or two, or additional difficulties to encourage replay value, the main story path would still need to deliver. Why else would you drop $60 on it?

Of course, over time, that promise has become muddied. It’s the age of $70 games, with the occasional threat of an $80 release. Where developers aren’t just pushing for massive game worlds, they’re promising entire systems to explore (well, at least one of them did, to a mixed response). Gaming as a hobby has become much more expensive in general. As a result, players look for the most bang for their buck or join the overwhelming majority that only really play a handful of titles all year – Madden, Call of Duty, EA Sports FC – not to mention free-to-play titles like Fortnite.

But for every new title with checklists of stuff to do – free or otherwise; for every game that pushes Battle Passes, challenges, and whatnot, there will still be titles that favor succinct quality over excessive padding. We’ve seen it in the likes of Astro Bot, Returnal, Saros, and so on, and we’re seeing it again in 007 First Light.

You can see it from the opening minutes to the training missions in Malta to Bond’s first real mission in Slovakia. The story moves at a brisk pace when it needs to but also takes its time when required. You’ll have plenty of moments that establish the characters and setting, making you actually care about them. It could be Greenway administering a lie detector test to Bond and drawing his ire, or trying to earn money to enter Bawma’s private auction for a chance to meet him. Every single scene is deliberate but never outstays its welcome.

The sheer restraint in the storytelling is as incredible as those high-note moments, be it while chasing enemies through the countryside or during an intense shootout. There is that promised forward momentum in every aspect of the gameplay, but the development team knows how to temper it with variety.

The result? This feeling of pushing ahead to see what’s next, be it a gorgeous new environment or some new plot development. Maybe you’ll unlock a new gadget that fundamentally changes how you play. Perhaps a seemingly innocuous story sequence will lead to you chasing assassins to a gala, transitioning from running and gunning across rooftops to tense stealth, and back again. It’s a design approach that I can only really describe as “watercooler moments,” where something incredible is always around the corner, keeping you hooked.

And yet, even as First Light crams all these moments in while offering the occasional level with multiple approaches, and numerous unique locations, the story can be completed in about 15 to 16 hours. Partaking in the extra side content bumps that up to about 19 hours. That’s not including repeat playthroughs on a higher difficulty, of course. Which wouldn’t be surprising to anyone who’s played IOI’s Hitman World of Assassination. For all the replay value on offer, especially with Freelancer mode, the main story of each title isn’t very long.

However, at $70 for First Light, it’s easy to balk at that playtime in this day and age. But once again, just like an Uncharted or The Last of Us back in the day, you’re paying for a certain level of quality. The real question before launch is whether IOI could actually execute on that and deliver everything that it promises. Judging by the reviews from critics and the response from almost three million players, we’d say they were successful.

Not that a James Bond title couldn’t have worked as an open-world game, but this particular 007 experience could only be delivered like this, even if it didn’t necessarily cost $200 million to develop as widely reported.

None of this is to knock open-world games or titles that you can sink dozens, maybe hundreds of hours into (though I can think of more than a few live-service titles that deserve the criticism). There’s also nothing wrong with adding features that encourage replaying, even if that’s not your main reason. For example, Titanfall 2’s multiplayer would have been the biggest appeal for returning fans, but it remains one of the best single-player first-person shooter campaigns of all-time. In the same vein, anyone who picked it up just for the story would have gotten their money’s worth.

But there’s a difference between extra features or side activities and padding that doesn’t serve the game in any shape or form. Insomniac Games understood that with the Marvel’s Spider-Man games – that’s why their stories take about 17 hours to complete. Could it have justified extending the sequel’s playtime, especially with all the things fans wanted to see but never got (Symbiote-infused Sandman, we barely knew ye)? Of course, and it might have done so if not for the already massive budget.

Would it have gone that route if it affected the pacing and overall plot? Probably not. Granted, not every single sequence is a winner, but none overstay their welcome. Keep in mind that these are still open-world games at heart – it’s just that the approach to storytelling is very much in line with a linear single-player experience.

Value is subjective, and one person’s $20 microtransaction is another’s Hollow Knight: Silksong (as depressing as that may sound). But if this year has served as a reminder of anything, it’s that triple-A games can have incredible linear single-player campaigns and still be successful. Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata proved this, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword could complete that hat trick.

Not everyone can deliver this kind of experience, and I’d be lying if I said it always meant success. See Saros reportedly selling only 405,000 copies since launching last April, despite costing $70.

Regardless, the point still stands. You don’t need to stuff hours of busywork into the experience for the sake of “value,” or just abandon the formula outright because the call of the live-service model is too strong (see: Rocksteady). Maybe it’s because more and more publishers have reeled enough from these games-as-a-service titles to instead fall back on the tried and true, even as development costs continue to balloon.

That doesn’t mean the budgets will reduce anytime soon, especially with reports about Gears of War: E-Day costing upwards of $400 million to develop (and that packs a lot more than just a campaign). But there’s something to be said about delivering a tight, well-knit story that doesn’t make you wait for the fun. Value is subjective, but time is money, and sometimes, a 15-hour experience that stays with you can feel superior to a 100-hour title that feels like a slog.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Among the employees to have confirmed that they have been laid off are game writer and narrative designer Bijan Stephen, principal 3D environment artist Paulette Richardson, senior character concept artist Shelby Dela Cruz, and dialogue designer Sean Miller.

“After nearly six wonderful years at Compulsion Games, significant professional growth, and having shipped one of my most creatively satisfying titles in my career, I am now #OpenToWork,” wrote Miller. Richardson said, “After five wonderful years at Compulsion, I am now #OpenToWork.”

Recent reports had indicated that, while many Xbox studios are seemingly going to be affected, Compulsion Games was going to be the first to face layoffs.

While many people from across the industry have spoken about these impending layoffs and studio closures, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier went as far as to say that Microsoft is punishing its employees for following its own previous orders.

“A lot of these studios made plenty of their own mistakes, but in a lot of ways they’re being punished today for following orders,” Schreier said in a video. “For listening to what they were told a few years ago. And that is just a shame, and what is going to happen is pretty brutal. The word bloodbath has been thrown around among people I talk to who know about what’s going to happen. It’s going to be bad.”

“And one of the reasons Xbox studios have struggled to make great games over the past decade is this uncertainty,” he concluded. “It’s really hard to make great art when working under the fear of layoffs and turbulence and cancellations and shutdowns.”

Former PlayStation Studios boss Shawn Layden offered his own opinions on the matter, noting that Xbox’s recent moves have indicated that the company has a “basic misunderstanding” of how the gaming industry works.

“At the risk of sounding like a ‘hater’ (which, I’m really not), the moves evince a basic misunderstanding of how the interactive entertainment world moves. [If you know, you know], which also means if you don’t, you don’t,” wrote Layden. His statement came in response to a LinkedIn post by industry consultant Tadhg Kelly, who had pointed out that many of Xbox’s recent moves have seemed quite contradictory. Among these has been the decision to rebrand back to its previous brand, and an insistence that, despite the potential high price tag of Project Helix, “a claim that hardware can’t be expensive to win.”

In the meantime, Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory have reportedly begun negotiations with Xbox to try to go independent rather than suffer from studio closures. If these negotiations succeed, however, the studios will still likely have to undergo some form of layoffs.