Sensor Tower finds indies capture 38% of launch-month units among 2026 top sellers

Sensor Tower counted 76 PC and console games above 500,000 first-month units in 2026. The 2025 cohort had 55 such games. Month-one units rose 51% YoY to 182.4 million. Indies took 38% of month-one paid units, up from 26%. The growth came from indie and new IP, while AAA hit counts held flat.

Indie studios and new IP expanded the breakout pool
Indie hits rose from 13 titles to 33.
That lifted the indie share of hits from 24% to 43%.
First-in-series games rose from 38% to 53% of hits.
Games on completely new IP climbed from 19 to 35.
Indie studios made 27 of those 35 new-IP hits.

Indie success spans more than one genre
Low-budget co-op party games produced roughly half of indie first-month sales.
Those party games accounted for only 9 of the 33 indie hits.
Single-player games and sequels like Slay the Spire 2 and Silksong also broke through.
"The indie success is much broader than one genre." - Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights, Sensor Tower

AA kept its hit count but lost unit share
Fifteen AA games cleared 500,000 first-month units in both cohorts.
AA's share of month-one paid units fell from 21% to 14%.
Crimson Desert, 007 First Light and Wardogs compete directly with AAA launches.
"AA studios are making big bets that are paying off." - Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights, Sensor Tower

Original IP widens the range of commercial outcomes
"Original games give you a higher ceiling, but a lower floor." - Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights, Sensor Tower
Four of the ten biggest launches were brand-new games.
Meccha Chameleon sold an estimated 13.9 million units in month one.
Only Battlefield 6 outsold it among launches of the past year.
Kontus frames the IP choice as risk management over maximising potential.

AAA franchises still anchor the market
AAA hits edged up from 27 titles to 28.
AAA still accounts for nearly half of first-month sales.
Sequels took 55% of month-one paid units in 2026.
Only 5 of the 28 AAA hits were brand-new games.
"Indie hits aren't taking away the share from AAA, they are additive." - Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights, Sensor Tower
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Shift AA greenlights toward contained-scope new IP and away from mid-budget AAA-adjacent bets.
For Investors & VC: Model indie new-IP valuations on viral breakout ceilings with portfolio-level downside hedging.
For Service Vendors: Pitch co-op netcode and live-ops support to small indie teams scaling past viral launches.