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Xbox had the steepest reported year-over-year sales decline among the major console groups in the U.S. in November 2025: down 70%, compared with a 40% drop for PS5 and a reported 10% drop for Nintendo hardware. The figures do not show that Xbox’s price increases caused the decline, and they are a one-month comparison—not a full-year sales ranking.
What the November 2025 comparison actually shows
A December 18, 2025 TechRadar report, recounting Circana senior director and industry analyst Mat Piscatella’s remarks to IGN, gave these U.S. year-over-year changes for November:
| Platform group | Reported change | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Xbox | Down 70% | November 2025 versus November 2024 |
| PS5 | Down 40% | November 2025 versus November 2024 |
| Nintendo Switch 2 and original Switch combined | Down 10% | Combined November 2025 performance versus Switch-only November 2024 performance |
On those reported monthly figures, Xbox had the largest decline. The Nintendo comparison is not like-for-like: Switch 2 had launched by November 2025, so that month’s Nintendo group includes two systems, while the prior-year comparison covers the original Switch. The figures are percentage changes, not disclosed unit totals.
The comparison also does not establish that Xbox was the worst-selling console across all of 2025. It answers a narrower question: which platform had the sharpest reported year-over-year fall in U.S. sales in November?
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How Xbox’s 2025 price increases fit the story
TechRadar reported that Microsoft raised Xbox hardware prices in the U.S. in May and again in September 2025. In the report’s December context, it listed the Series X at $649.99 and the Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition at $799.99. Those are historical reported prices, not a statement of current price or availability.
The timing makes higher prices a plausible factor for weaker demand: a more expensive console can put buyers off or lead them to delay a purchase. But the sales comparison alone cannot measure that effect. TechRadar also pointed to Xbox’s multiplatform strategy and cost-of-living pressures, and the report supplies no causal model, control group, or estimate of sales lost specifically because of the price changes. It is therefore more accurate to say the hikes may have contributed than to say they made Xbox sales fall by 70%.
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What full-year figures add—and what they do not
The November comparison should not be confused with annual market totals or dollar spending. The Entertainment Software Association’s March 2026 restatement puts final U.S. consumer spending on video games in 2025 at $60.8 billion, including $5.4 billion on hardware and $2.9 billion on accessories. These are spending figures, not console unit sales. The ESA quotes Circana’s Mat Piscatella describing 2025 as the second-highest U.S. year for total video-game product spending, behind 2021’s $61.7 billion. ESA’s release notes that the figures were restated in March 2026; the final figures are used here.
A secondary summary of Circana’s annual results says Nintendo Switch 2 sold 4.4 million units in the U.S. in 2025 and ranked first among systems, with PS5 second. That summary does not provide a comparable full-year Xbox unit total, so it cannot support an annual Xbox-versus-PlayStation sales comparison. GameDev Reports’ summary supplies the Switch 2 figure.
For broader context, Circana forecast total U.S. video-game industry spending of $62.8 billion for 2026. That is a forecast, not a reported result, and Circana’s discussion of component costs and hardware affordability describes industry-wide pressures rather than isolating Xbox’s response to its price changes. Circana’s forecast also says the Switch 2 launch offset declines across other hardware platforms.
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