U.S. market data released by Circana shows that the PS5 was the only console to achieve year-over-year sales growth in September 2026, with a 22% increase, surpassing the newer and lower-priced Switch 2. Its hardware sales share also rose to its highest level since May 2025.
This performance contrasts with the negative sentiment surrounding PlayStation during the month. This period saw player "shutdown" protests, Physint being canceled and subsequently picked up by Xbox, a poorly received State of Play presentation, and media reviews for Marvel's Wolverine falling short of some expectations.
Affected by price increases, PS5 sales revenue grew 43% year-over-year that month, with an average selling price reaching $646. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella noted that weekly sales trends indicate Marvel's Wolverine was the main driver of PS5 growth, with NBA 2K27 and GTA 6 also likely playing a role.
Marvel's Wolverine received an average Metacritic score of 75, yet it still became the best-selling game of September and climbed to 11th place on the annual sales chart. In contrast, Xbox sales fell 27% year-over-year, marking the platform's worst September performance on record.
Piscatella also stated that the "shutdown" campaign did not cause a significant change in the number of U.S. players. Current sales data has not yet shown an impact comparable to the negative public sentiment, though such backlash does exist, and Sony still needs to take player feedback seriously.