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

The bonus is slated to be part of Krafton’s agreement for when it purchased Unknown Worlds all the way back in 2021. As part of this deal, the company had agreed to pay the studio’s former shareholders 3.12 for every $1 made up to $250 million based on Unknown Worlds’ performance, assuming the developer was able to bring in revenues of $69.8 million a month.

This acquisition deal had been the subject of major tensions between Krafton and the leadership of Unknown Worlds. In July last year, the company had said that Subnautica 2 was originally slated for an Early Access launch in 2024, and blamed a “lack of leadership” at the developer for the delay.

Noting that the $250 million compensation would have gone to the three co-founders of Unknown Worlds – Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire – the publisher said that the deal was signed “with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2.”

“However, regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them. Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an Early Access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed.”

This inevitably caused quite a few back-and-forths between the co-founders and Krafton, even leading to a lawsuit. Among the accusations levied at Krafton was the fact that its CEO, Changham Kim, was “desperate” to avoid paying out the promised bonuses to the studio and even resorted to asking ChatGPT for advice.

“Desperate to avoid such a professional embarrassment, Kim obsessed over finding a way to avoid Krafton’s obligation to pay the earn-out,” reads a pre-trial brief filed by lawyers representing Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire back in November. “[Krafton’s global head of corporate development, Maria Park] told Kim that ‘it seems to be highly likely that the earn-out will still be paid if the sales goal is achieved, regardless of the dismissal with cause.’ Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earn-out. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earn-out.’ But Kim was undeterred.”

The lawsuit has since been settled, however, with a Delaware Chancery Court judge reinstating Gill as the CEO of Unknown Worlds. “Judgment is entered in favor of Fortis [which represents the Unknown Worlds founders] on its Phase One claims,” stated vice chancellor Lori W. Will. “Krafton breached the EPA by terminating the Key Employees without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds.”

In the meantime, Subnautica 2 came out on PC and Xbox Series X/S as an Early Access title, and Unknown Worlds has already started bringing in improvements to the survival crafting game. A hotfix released earlier this week, for instance, brought in buffs for Silver and Troilite drops and nerfed Hammerheads.

The studio has acknowledged that creatures need to be better balanced and that some predator encounters currently feel more frustrating than exciting. To deal with this, Unknown Worlds is actively working on improvements to creature behaviour, as well as to the tools available to players to mitigate these encounters. These improvements will include changes to creature aggression timing, aggro range, creature interaction with vehicles and bases, and the effectiveness of tools like flares and the Survival Tool.

For players who want a more direct way to deal with hostile creatures, the studio has reiterated that its intent was never to focus on combat. While it has acknowledged that some players might want ways to kill the game’s many creatures, Unknown Worlds has noted that this likely stems from avoidance and mitigation tools feeling ineffective. It also notes that its intention was never to judge players who want direct combat in the game.

“Our current direction is not based on judging players who want combat, and it is not because we think those players are wrong,” explained Unknown Worlds. “Subnautica has always been built around vulnerability, exploration, and survival rather than traditional weapon-based combat. We believe that this is part of what makes the game unique. However, that design only works if creature encounters feel fair, readable, and engaging. Right now, we know we have more work to do to achieve that.”

When it comes to the Early Access release of Subnautica 2, the studio has noted that this wasn’t simply intended to be an extended beta that revolves around “collecting bug reports.” Rather, it was meant to be a collaborative effort alongside the community to improve the game. Unknown Worlds has acknowledged that it won’t be able to add every new feature or make every single change that the community wants. However, it has also said that it has a responsibility to “listen carefully, explain our decisions respectfully, and show through our actions that player feedback is shaping the game.”

Subnautica 2 is slated to get updates that will bring in general improvements to reflect the fact that the studio is taking community feedback seriously, and Unknown Worlds has expressed hope that this will work as a sign that it wants to work alongside the players to develop the game.

Earlier this week, Subnautica 2 got its first Early Access hotfix, bringing in fixes for bugs and crashes that could affect, among others, players using AMD graphics cards. Along with this, the studio has also promised to bring in changes to its in-game Terms of Service, as well as a new FAQ that will hopefully address the concerns players have had about the title’s current Terms of Service and EULA (End User License Agreement).

Subnautica 2 is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Take a look at our review for more details.

Among the player restrictions defined by the EULA are a ban on using VPNs, an ownership of any mods that might be developed for the survival crafting game, and even a ban on players from bringing “harm” to the “reputation” of Krafton or Subnautica 2.

Players can breathe a sigh of relief thanks to the promise of changes to the game’s Terms of Service, as well as a new FAQ that will address concerns that players have been feeling with the current EULA, in the “near future”. It is worth noting, however, that Unknown Worlds hasn’t quite offered any further details about how its Terms of Service will be changing.

“Adjustments to the Terms of Service and a FAQ addressing concerns with the current version will be rolled out in the near future,” wrote the studio at the bottom of its patch notes.

As for the update itself, it also brings in a fix for crashes that can be caused when using the Ping feature. Interestingly, the game also automatically enables analytics tracking after players have read and agreed to the Terms of Service. However, the analytics tracking can also be turned off at any time from the in-game settings menu.

In the meantime, Unknown Worlds has also been facing some criticism from players over Subnautica 2 not providing players with any way to take on its underwater fauna in combat. Discussing the topic on the game’s official Discord server, one level designer said that players who want to kill things should go play another survival crafting game, like Sons of the Forest, and that Subnautica 2 is not a “killing game”.

“We aren’t a killing game,” wrote the level designer. “Go play Sons of the Forest or something if you want to kill.”

As one might imagine, this response has led to further heated conversations about what defines appropriate feedback over some players just being upset over a game’s design ethos. While some players took to the game’s subreddit to ask “What’s the point of Early Access if you’re just going to not take criticism or feedback,” others have noted that “‘We want your feedback” is not the same thing as ‘we will cave to every request you make’,” they wrote. “If everyone went to the Early Access and was like ‘we want it to be an FPS, but like set the game on Earth in the modern day’, would they be in the wrong to say ‘go play [Call of Duty] instead’?”

Subnautica 2 Early Access Hotfix 1 patch notes:

• Updated the crash-on-startup error pop-up for AMD graphics cards and DirectX 12 issues to provide more guidance and support
• Fixed an infrequent crash related to the Ping feature
• Enabled analytics only after accepting Terms of Service
• Reduced the amount of data being sent to backend services

This Subnautica 2 guide has every major step towards getting the Heat Tolerance Adaptation.

Processor Blueprint

Once you have acquired the Habitat Blueprint, head for the Old Habitat about 400m to the north. Dive to a depth of 55m to find an airlock leading to the Processor.

Sonic Resonator Blueprint

In this same location, you can get a hold of both parts of the Sonic Resonator: one on a sidetable near an airlock, and the other in an adjoining room, lying on the floor.

Silver Ore

You will be needing this precious resource for the process, and you can find it right near the Old Habitat, in a large cave.

Construct Processor

With 2 Titanium, 1 Mild Acid, and 1 Copper Wire, you are set to construct a Processor within a Habitat. Once done, configure your newly built Processor to load and process Titanium into Ingots.

Craft Sonic Resonator

The Titanium Ingots will allow you to finally craft a Sonic Resonator at the Fabricator.

Heat Tolerance Adaptation

Go south-west around 200m towards the Blackbox – Wander signal and find a tunnel leading straight down at a depth of 35 odd meters. Use your new Sonic Resonator to clear the bloom biofilm cankers that are obstructing your path through. Continue the process until you have successfully purged the infection.

Completely clearing the Angel Comb of its affliction and sampling its core is how you will finally acquire the Heat Tolerance Adaptation.

That is everything there is to know about unlocking the Heat Tolerance Adaptation in Subnautica 2.

“We aren’t a killing game,” wrote the level designer. “Go play Sons of the Forest or something if you want to kill.”

The response has caught further criticism, with many Subnautica 2 fans taking to Reddit to discuss the developer’s response. “What’s the point of Early Access if you’re just going to not take criticism or feedback,” wrote one Reddit user.

Others, however, have pointed out that wanting feedback from players doesn’t necessarily mean that Unknown Worlds will change its core design philosophy for Subnautica 2. “‘We want your feedback” is not the same thing as ‘we will cave to every request you make’,” they wrote. “If everyone went to the Early Access and was like ‘we want it to be an FPS, but like set the game on Earth in the modern day’, would they be in the wrong to say ‘go play [Call of Duty] instead’?”

“Am I the only one who thinks the no-killing is fine?” asked another Reddit user.

It is worth noting that the previous two entries in the Subnautica franchise – Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero – have allowed players to kill the larger underwater creatures, dubbed the Leviathans. However, those games still made the process a challenging ordeal.

Interestingly, the community seems to have taken it upon itself to create a mod that allows players to engage the underwater fauna of Subnautica 2 in combat. One mod, named Killable Creatures, allows players to kill just about anything, from Hammerheads to Nibblers, and even larger creatures, like the Collector.

Subnautica 2‘s Early Access release, happening just last week, was met with near-instant success, with Unknown Worlds announcing that it had sold more than 2 million copies of the game in just 12 hours after its release. The studio has also confirmed that it has plenty of content in development for the survival game with a roadmap.

The first major update following the Early Access launch will revolve around quality of life features, with improvements planned for the Biomods system, Blight encounters, Wrecks gameplay, the PDA databank, and more. It will be followed up by another major update that will bring in co-op-centric improvements to HUD signals and the Base Builder tool.

In the future, Unknown Worlds wants to expand the in-game world with new biomes, creatures, resources, tools, vehicles, and the next chapter of the story it is trying to tell.

Subnautica 2 is currently only available on PC and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, take a look at our Early Access review, where, while we praised its state at launch, we also kept in mind that the game will likely see several improvements down the line.

The team’s enthusiasm to finally bring this one to the masses is evident, and the relief of leaving its troubled development behind seems palpable. Of course, the game’s looking every bit as engaging as we’ve been hoping, while you can expect new biomes, Leviathans, creatures, and more – perhaps the most among the studio’s early access releases to date. Player feedback will be a crucial part in shaping the game, as it stays in early access for at least two years (unless plans change).

With Subnautica 2 doubling down on what made its predecessor great, that final product, shaped by its community of players, could be quite a unique offering if the team can play its cards right. That base building system alone looks like it could keep us occupied for a significantly long time.

There’s a list of recommended specifications to check out in the vlog if you’re worried about whether your PC has what it takes. Subnautica 2 launches on May 14th for Xbox Series X/S and PC alongside Game Pass.

Naturally, this caused some confusion (and even speculation that the studio had split from Krafton). However, creative media producer Scott MacDonald and design lead Anthony Gallegos have since offered some clarification to Eurogamer in a recent call.

“I’m not sure I have that good an insight into the Steam page, but what I can say is we’re co-publishing the game [with Krafton], so they’re not not the publisher anymore,” said Gallegos.

MacDonald added, “As you can tell with Krafton people in this call, we’re working with them for all promotional material; it’s a co-publishing thing. It’s just one of those things on Steam, I think that just happened. It may have blown up a little bigger than it was meant to, but you know, Krafton are still very much helping us with the launch of the game.”

A PR representative present in the same call agreed with the same, so there it is. Of course, how much it dictates the direction of the game remains to be seen, especially following a court order granting authority to reinstated CEO Ted Gill over the early access launch.

For now, Subnautica 2 will launch on May 14th for Xbox Series X/S and PC via early access (and will also be available on day one for Game Pass). While it’s launching several biomes, support for four players in co-op, several craftable items, and much more, Unknown Worlds will expand on it further with subsequent updates, which means a price increase from the current $30 when early access ends.

However, the road to 1.0 is quite long, with the developer expecting two to three years based on its previous work. Of course, on top of being “difficult to accurately predict,” it’s also committed to “completing Subnautica 2 and making it the best game possible.” Alongside taking place on a new planet, Unknown Worlds said it’s “definitely doubled down” when it comes to the aliens, and players will go “deeper than you could ever hope.”

A quick look at the Steam listing for Subnautica 2 reflects this change as having gone through, with Unknown Worlds seemingly being responsible for both developing and publishing the title. Neither the studio nor Krafton has made any statement regarding this. However, the change having gone through without too much fanfare would indicate that the two came to an agreement to part ways, at least for the release of Subnautica 2.

The most recent bit of drama between Krafton and Unknown Worlds’ trio of co-founders, Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire, took place just last month in light of the now-former publisher having announced a May release window for Subnautica 2‘s Early Access launch. In a letter sent to Vice Chancellor Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery, a lawyer said that the announcement was made improperly, and could end up “damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community.” The letter went on to call the announcement a “self-serving” one for Krafton.

“Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court’s Opinion,” reads the lawyer’s letter. “Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community.”

The announcement was made just a few days after Will’s judgment for the lawsuit between the co-founders and Krafton, which also involved the re-appointment of Gill as the studio’s CEO. “Judgment is entered in favor of Fortis [which represents the Unknown Worlds founders] on its Phase One claims,” said Will as part of the judgment. “Krafton breached the EPA by terminating the Key Employees without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds.”

In the meantime, Unknown Worlds has continued to work on Subnautica 2 as it gets ready for its Early Access launch. Earlier this month, in a new video series, the studio discussed the role played by the Subnautica community and the various journeys they experienced. “This company was made on community feedback, and the games inside were helped build by them, and being a voice and being heard to create Below Zero, and Subnautica was amazing,” said level designer Artyom.

Subnautica 2 is being developed for PC and Xbox Series X/S. The studio hasn’t yet provided more details on how much content players can expect on launch, and what the development roadmap will look like for its Early Access period.

The Unknown Worlds / Krafton story is a gift that keeps on giving. Looks like Krafton is out of the Subnautica picture entirely. I have thoughts about what this extrication deal might be (waive the earnout, dismiss any countersuits, Krafton doesn’t get a dime)… and if so, a good deal for Krafton.

— Mike Futter (@futterish.fsquared.biz) 2026-04-13T23:44:36.593Z

Having enjoyed the first game, he would sign up to become a playtester for Subnautica: Below Zero. The experience involved playing through the game and discovering “exciting things,” even if they weren’t supposed to clip or catch on fire. He recalls how it was a “really, really” hands-on process with the development team.

“This company was made on community feedback, and the games inside were helped build by them and being a voice and being heard to create Below Zero, and Subnautica was amazing.”

As a level designer on Subnautica 2, Artyom remembers having “specific feelings” when exploring the first game’s Mushroom Forest or Grand Reef. “And when I was taking those feelings and able to put them into Subnautica 2’s world, do I still get that sense of awe? Do I still get that sense of what’s around the corner and what’s next?

“I know that I’m hitting the same beats, and my little fan inside is like, ‘That’s it. You’re doing good. We’re hitting this right.'”

Interestingly, he also dropped some additional details about the sequel, noting that the team has “definitely doubled down” on the aliens. “You’re going to uncover more. You’re going to learn more. And you’re going to go deeper than you could ever hope. I cannot wait for people to hop into it.” Some footage of the same is also revealed, and suffice to say that it looks proper scary, especially if they’ve captured an ally.

For now, Subnautica 2 will enter early access this May for Xbox Series X/S and PC. The exact amount of content available at launch or the long-term roadmap remains to be revealed. As always, stay tuned for more updates.