Gaming’s most enjoyable gross sales knowledge is filled with outdated and obscure video games

Every month, Circana online game analyst Mat Piscatella posts fascinating knowledge about online game gross sales on Bluesky, highlighting traits like November’s traditionally unhealthy month for recreation {hardware} and Battlefield 6’s huge launch in October. But he doesn’t simply share knowledge about what’s promoting essentially the most; as of late, he’s additionally posted pleasant lists of video games which have bought only a single bodily copy over a sure time period, and the lists typically embody retro video games that take me down reminiscence lane or titles that I didn’t even know existed.

The record of video games that bought one bodily copy in October, for instance, consists of the Xbox 360 model of Burnout Paradise and Hasbro Family Game Night 3 for the PS3. On Thursday, Piscatella posted the “2025 Circana Thread for Sickos” highlighting video games that solely bought one bodily unit over the entire 12 months throughout varied handhelds and consoles.

That record of video games that bought a single unit in October was born out of a question from a consumer on Bluesky, Piscatella tells The Verge. “People seemed to enjoy the combination of journey down memory lane and the treasure hunting idea of these games being out there somewhere,” Piscatella says. Then folks began asking him about it, so he thought it’d be enjoyable to maintain doing it.

Circana is ready to observe the information as a result of it has agreements with “all major retailers” that permit it compile and analyze point-of-sale knowledge, Piscatella says. “I​​f a retailer’s point-of-sale system scans a product as a sale, it will show up in the data.” That means all of the video games he has talked about in these threads “had one new unit floating around out there somehow that was sold through a register or via an online purchase. Perhaps it was a unit that had been lost somewhere in the back, or was buried under a display, or who knows.”

While it’s enjoyable to look again and snort at a few of the video games folks purchased — I really feel sorry for the poor soul who bought Metroid: Other M for the Wii final 12 months — folks shopping for an older, obscure recreation from a retailer is extra widespread than you would possibly assume, Piscatella says. “There were more than 1,000 games across all platforms (including PC) that sold between one and five new physical units in the US during 2025, while over 3,500 different games sold at least one new physical unit at retail last year overall,” based on Piscatella. “Retailers have all kinds of stuff hidden away in those stores of theirs.”

I requested Piscatella how lengthy he plans to proceed making the threads highlighting video games promoting only one copy. “So long as it stays fun, I reckon,” he says. “But who knows.”