Each month, Circana online game analyst Mat Piscatella posts fascinating information about online game gross sales on Bluesky, highlighting traits like November’s traditionally unhealthy month for recreation {hardware} and Battlefield 6’s large launch in October. However he doesn’t simply share information about what’s promoting probably 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 embrace 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 Household Recreation Night time 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 yr throughout varied handhelds and consoles.
That record of video games that bought a single unit in October was born out of a query from a person on Bluesky, Piscatella tells The Verge. “Folks appeared to benefit from the mixture of journey down reminiscence lane and the treasure looking thought of those video games being on the market someplace,” 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 info as a result of it has agreements with “all main retailers” that permit it compile and analyze point-of-sale information, Piscatella says. “If a retailer’s point-of-sale system scans a product as a sale, it’s going to present up within the information.” Which means all of the video games he has talked about in these threads “had one new unit floating round on the market someway that was bought by means of a register or by way of a web-based buy. Maybe it was a unit that had been misplaced someplace within the again, or was buried underneath a show, or who is aware of.”
Whereas it’s enjoyable to look again and giggle at a number of the video games folks purchased — I really feel sorry for the poor soul who bought Metroid: Different M for the Wii final yr — folks shopping for an older, obscure recreation from a retailer is extra widespread than you may assume, Piscatella says. “There have been greater than 1,000 video games throughout all platforms (together with PC) that bought between one and 5 new bodily items within the US throughout 2025, whereas over 3,500 totally different video games bought at the very least one new bodily unit at retail final yr total,” based on Piscatella. “Retailers have every kind of stuff hidden away in these shops of theirs.”
I requested Piscatella how lengthy he plans to proceed making the threads highlighting video games promoting only one copy. “As long as it stays enjoyable, I reckon,” he says. “However who is aware of.”