November sales data has arrived and confirmed that hardware sales for both Sony and Microsoft are way down this holiday season. With both the Xbox Series consoles and the PS5 raising prices in 2025, it seems like the companies may have passed a price ceiling that consumers were willing to accept.
Holiday Console Sales are the worst they’ve been since 1995
A new report from Circana dives into the November sales data and confirms that consumers are not spending the way they used to. The sales numbers reveal that Xbox Series consoles are down 70% year over year, Sony’s PS5 is down 40%, and Switch plus Switch 2 sales were down 10%. It seems like none of the big three are managing to escape dips in sales this holiday season.
As console prices soar, it seems like many gamers are looking elsewhere. The rise of high-powered handhelds like the Steam Deck and the expansion of PC gaming offer players more flexibility in terms of both cost and how to game. When the PlayStation and Xbox hardware begins to cost as much as a mid-range PC, some of the traditional value and family-friendliness of the home console starts to disappear.
Why Are Sales So Low?
There are a number of market factors that impact the drop in sales, but there are at least a few key factors worth considering. The most obvious answer has to do prices. Due to tariffs and other market conditions, prices are soaring in the video game industry. With hardware manufacturing and shipping costs increasing, Sony and Microsoft have chosen to pass those expenses to the consumer with mid-cycle price increases.
In previous console generations, this would be the point in the lifecycle where launch hardware starts to see a drop in price. This time around, prices are actually going up instead.
Xbox raised the price of both the Series S (base model) and the Series X this year. The Series X is now up to $599 for the 1TB, no disc drive version. Sony held off for a bit, but ultimately ended up increasing the price of its consoles by $50, as well. Sony also released the new PS5 Pro at the very steep price tag of $750.
Nintendo only launched the Switch 2 this year, so it did not experience a similar mid-cycle price jump. That said, the Switch 2 did release at $500, making it around $200 more expensive than the original Switch was at its launch back in 2017. That $500 starting point is definitely enough to cause some sticker shock for many families who are operating on a tight budget.
Aside from rising prices in the video game industry, there are also additional factors in the overall economy. Prices are rising for essentials like housing and groceries, which leaves fewer dollars in consumers’ pockets for entertainment and hobby purchases.
With the holiday sales window coming to a close, it will be very interesting to see if Microsoft or Sony make any adjustments to their pricing strategies or product lineups in 2026.
The post How Record-High Prices Just Crushed Xbox and PlayStation Sales appeared first on VICE.
