US analysis firm Circana has released its gaming sales data for March, and it probably won't come as a surprise that Ubisoft's latest major release Assassin's Creed Shadows is leading the pack for the month.
According to Circana's Mat Piscatella over on Bluesky, Assassin's Creed Shadows topped the all-format sales chart for March, with new sports release MLB: The Show 25 coming in second. Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds is in third, which isn't surprising given its incredibly strong sales performance.
Shadows is also Xbox's top-selling game for the month, although it's pipped to the post on PlayStation by the aforementioned MLB: The Show 25. Since neither game launched on Switch, the honor for Nintendo's console goes instead to Xenoblade Chronicles X's recent remaster.
In terms of play time, Fortnite topped the charts for both PlayStation and Xbox, although the honor on Steam goes to wacky co-op horror game R.E.P.O., probably because Fortnite isn't available on Steam.
Just in case you're wondering, Assassin's Creed Shadows' March performance wasn't enough to give it the top spot in the year-to-date sales chart; that still belongs to Monster Hunter Wilds, although Shadows is in a very respectable second place.
Hardware spending fell by 25% over last March, representing the lowest March total since 2019. Sony's PS5 was once again the market leader for both dollar and unit sales, with Xbox Series X|S coming in second on both measures.
Switch sales dropped by 37% when compared to last March, although that's almost certainly due in large part to consumers waiting for the Switch 2, which is launching in June this year.
Overall, gaming spending dropped by 6% in March when compared to March last year, with only non-mobile subscriptions and console premium digital purchases growing.
As ever, I'd recommend checking out Piscatella's full Bluesky thread if you want to delve deep into the numbers. Join us again in a few weeks for April's figures!
