Video game console sales in the US had one of its worst Novembers ever in 2025, according to a new report.
There were a total of just 1.6 million consoles sold across the US in November this year, which is typically a time of year when sales are highest thanks to Black Friday discounts and the upcoming holiday season. But the increased prices of consoles may be driving this downward trend.
The average price paid for a console in November 2025 was $439, which is the highest it’s ever been. This is caused by a number of factors, like manufacturers increasing prices throughout the year due to things like tariffs in the US, and an overall increase in the price of RAM. No matter the reason, it’s a rough look.
The chart illustrates a disturbing trend in the average selling price of consoles, and the data on hardware units sold paint a similar picture. Circana’s Mat Piscatella detailed the findings and remarked that “correlation does not necessarily imply causation…unless it does.”
2025’s $439 average compares scarily to 2019’s $235, when 3.9 million consoles were sold. The COVID-19 pandemic has likely had an adverse effect overall on everything since then, too, but this year has been a perfect storm of bad news when it comes to the selling of hardware.
Even with sales, the base PS5 console is $449 right now. The Xbox Series X is marked down (yeah, you read that right) to $599. The Nintendo Switch 2, which launched in June, is holding steady right at the average with its $449 MSRP. Gaming is not a cheap hobby.
Year-over-year, video game hardware spending was down 27 percent from November 2024, while spending on accessories was down 14 percent. It paints a bleak picture, especially since what is likely the biggest game of our lifetime yet was delayed out of its original launch window of this year. Grand Theft Auto 6 is now scheduled to drop on Nov. 19, 2026, so hopefully this time next year the charts will be looking quite different.
Published: Dec 17, 2025 11:17 am