Analysis by Sensor Tower – achieved on the request of GamesIndustry.biz – exhibits that indies and authentic IP made up a a lot increased proportion of the most important PC and console video games of 2026 compared with 2025.
The analytics agency picked out the video games that had bought greater than 500,000 items of their first month on sale in two 12-month date ranges: September 2024 to August 2025 (the 2025 cohort), and September 2025 to August 2026 (the 2026 cohort). Within the 2025 cohort, a complete of 55 video games bought greater than 500,000 items of their first month, whereas 76 video games met the edge within the 2026 cohort, and the variety of items bought elevated by 51% 12 months on 12 months, from 120.5 million to 182.4 million.
Within the 2025 cohort, simply 13 titles (24%) had been indies, in contrast with 33 within the 2026 cohort (43%).
New collection additionally broke via. Forty titles (53%) in 2026 had been the primary recreation in a brand new collection, up from 21 titles (38%) in 2025. Nonetheless, it is notable that sequels nonetheless are likely to promote extra per recreation – sequels accounted for 55% of month-one paid items in 2026.
As well as, the variety of video games primarily based on authentic IP (IP owned by the developer or writer versus IP licensed from sports activities leagues, movie, TV, comics, or toys) leapt up from 44 titles in 2025 to 61 in 2026. The variety of video games primarily based on fully new IP (that’s, not primarily based on an current franchise) elevated from 19 in 2025 to 35 in 2026, with 27 of them being made by indie studios.
The variety of AA and AAA titles reaching one-month gross sales of greater than 500,000 items remained flat throughout 2025 and 2026. Fifteen AA video games bought greater than 500,000 items their first month in each 2025 and 2026, whereas the numbers rose very barely for AAA, from 27 to twenty-eight.
Nonetheless, when taking a look at unit gross sales, the share of month-one paid items for AA video games shrank from 21% in 2025 to 14% in 2026, whereas the share for indies elevated from 26% to 38%.
A number of the greatest indie hits within the 2026 cohort had been Meccha Chameleon (13.9 million items bought within the first month in response to Sensor Tower estimates), Methods to Fish (7.9 million), Slay the Spire 2 (5.9 million), Hole Knight: Silksong (5.2 million), and Escape from Duckov (4 million).
The complete report will be downloaded from Sensor Tower here.
GamesIndustry.biz requested Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Recreation Insights at Sensor Tower, for his interpretation of the outcomes, and his solutions are beneath.
Have been you shocked on the outcomes of the information?
I anticipated a robust 12 months for indie, and my intestine mentioned most of it will come from “friendslop” – the low funds co-op celebration video games like Meccha Chameleon and Methods to Fish. They did produce the most important indie breakouts, roughly half of indie first-month gross sales. However they had been solely 9 of the 33 indie hits. Indie studios additionally broke via with single-player video games and long-awaited sequels like Slay the Spire 2 and Hole Knight: Silksong. The indie success is way broader than one style.
Are we seeing a transfer away from AAA?
Not likely. AAA is holding regular: the identical quantity of AAA video games handed 500k paid items of their first month because the 12 months earlier than. AAA nonetheless accounts for almost half of first-month gross sales, and massive franchises like Battlefield, EA Sports activities FC, and Resident Evil maintain delivering. Indie hits aren’t taking away the share from AAA, they’re additive. They drive the brand new development. What shocked me is what number of video games now clear 500,000 gross sales of their first 30 days: 76, up from 55 a 12 months earlier. That’s a really wholesome signal for the trade.
What sort of tendencies are you seeing among the many greatest promoting titles?
Three tales are enjoying out right here. First, established studios, whether or not AAA, AA, or indie, are leaning into their franchises, and it’s working: sequels like Battlefield 6, Resident Evil Requiem, Slay the Spire 2, and Silksong are among the many greatest launches. Second, AA studios are making massive bets which can be paying off. Crimson Desert, 007 First Mild, and Wardogs are every competing head-on with AAA, and a few might change into the subsequent massive franchises. Third, indie is targeted on most enjoyable in a contained scope: low budgets, recent concepts and the hope of going viral. Meccha Chameleon bought extra copies in its first month than some other launch within the final 12 months, besides Battlefield 6.
Is there any hyperlink between being an authentic IP and the variety of items bought? Do authentic video games promote kind of?
Unique video games provide you with a better ceiling, however a decrease ground. In our 2026 cohort, 35 of the 76 video games that bought 500k+ of their first month had been brand-new video games on authentic IP, up from 19 a 12 months earlier. 4 of the ten greatest launches had been brand-new, together with Meccha Chameleon and Arc Raiders. Current IP nonetheless offers a extra dependable begin and takes danger out of a undertaking, so the selection is much less about maximising potential and extra about managing danger. AAA has taken most of that danger off the desk on this a part of the cycle: solely 5 of its 28 hits had been brand-new video games. So innovation is coming from indie and AA. I count on AAA to start out making riskier bets once more as publishers watch these indie breakouts and buyers search for development. Arc Raiders exhibits what that may appear like.