Game Sales to Become Harder to Track as Xbox and EA Refuse to Share Data

Industry tracking in the United States faces new blind spots after Microsoft and Electronic Arts stopped providing digital game sales figures to analytics firm Circana.

For years, Circana has produced monthly reports on video game and console sales that publishers, industry analysts, and media outlets rely on to gauge commercial performance.

Microsoft no longer participates in Circana’s digital data-sharing program as of July 2026. Electronic Arts recently exited the program as well, with reports indicating the departure occurred around the same time the publisher transitioned to new ownership.

Because of these departures, monthly Circana charts will no longer reflect complete digital sales metrics for Xbox Game Studios and Electronic Arts releases. This change impacts major franchises such as Call of Duty and makes it harder to measure results against competitors that keep their digital data private.

Market observers suggest the visibility gap could widen further. As the games industry shifts more heavily toward digital distribution, additional publishers might pull their data. If that happens, analysts and journalists will have to rely on estimates while publishers retain tighter control over public sales information.