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PS5 Best-Selling Console in the US in September, Xbox Had Best September Since 2016

PS5 Best-Selling Console in the US in September, Xbox Had Best September Since 2016 - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 October 2023 / 8,687 Views

The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in September 2023 in terms of units sold and dollar sales, according to figures from Circana (formerly The NPD Group). Circana includes the dates for the five week period of August 27 to September 30.

The Xbox Series X|S was the second best-selling console in terms of units sold and dollar sales, while the Nintendo Switch came in third place for both metrics.

Xbox Series X|S dollar sales increased in the single-digital percentage, while the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch saw declines year-on-year.

Xbox Series X|S had the best September for Xbox since September 2016 in terms of units sold and the best since September 2014 in terms of dollar sales.

2023 year-to-date the PlayStation 5 is the best-selling console in terms of both units sold and dollar sales.

Overall spending on video games in September was up 10 percent year-on-year from $4.07 billion to $4.50 billion. Spending on video game content increased 13 percent from $3.40 billion to $3.85 billion, while video game hardware sales dropped eight percent percent from $490 million to $451 million.

Overall spending on video games in 2023 year-to-date is up two percent from $38.43 billion to $39.38 billion. Spending on video game content is up two percent from $33.49 billion to $34.08 billion, while video game hardware sales is up 10 percent from $3.36 billion to $3.70 billion.

"U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories grew 10% compared to a year ago, totaling $4.5B," said Circana Executive Director and Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella. "Growth in spending on video game content and accessories offset an 8% decline in hardware."

Piscatella added, "Spending on video game content in September increased 13% vs YA, reaching $3.8B. Growth in digital premium download spending across console & PC drove most of the gains. Non-mobile subscription spending fell 2%, while Sensor Tower reported mobile spending growth of 4%."

There were six new releases in the top 20 best-selling games. Starfield debuted in first place and is already the seventh best-selling game of 2023. It was the best-selling game on Xbox and PC, with it selling more on PC.

Mortal Kombat 1 debuted in second place and is the eighth best-selling game of 2023. It was the best-selling game on PlayStation, second on Xbox and PC, and third on the Nintendo Switch.

EA Sport FC 24 debuted in third place and saw double-digit growth in units sold an dollar sales when compared to FIFA 23 a year ago. It is the 14th best-selling game of 2023.

Payday 3 debuted in fifth place, NBA 2K24 debuted in sixth place, and The Crew Motorfest debuted in seventh place.

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for September 2023:

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in 2023 year-to-date:


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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5 Comments
jvmkdg (on 18 October 2023)

So that means that the ps5 did extremely well in September since the xbox had its best September in many years, and did not surpass the ps5. switch starts to show declines outside of Japan but still very good for its age. With spider 2 the ps5 will have a great holiday period and should not have any difficulty surpassing 50 million this year

  • +7
Juanita (on 18 October 2023)

Oh, i see the Starfield Moment for the PS5.

  • +5
DekutheEvilClown (on 18 October 2023)

So unless I’m mistaken, the Xbox One launch aligned sales lead will actually be increasing during the Starfield release, since September 2016 is the equivalent month I believe.

  • +1
only777 (on 18 October 2023)

Lets see if the Starfield bump has any legs

  • -3
xgamerx only777 (on 18 October 2023)

I doubt it... the series x needs to be at 400 like xbox one was at this point.

  • +3