Console market craters as Xbox sales crash 33% to the lowest since launch 25 years ago, PS5 sales drop 25%

Video game console sales in the U.S. have cratered, with both the PS5 and Xbox seeing a massive drop in YTD sales through the end of August compared with last year. Mat Piscatella, the video game industry advisor at research firm Circana, shared the numbers on his Bluesky account — PlayStation 5 sales have dropped by 25%, putting it at its lowest point since 2013, when gamers held off buying PlayStation consoles in anticipation of the arrival of the PS4, while Xbox’s retail figures have cratered by 33% YTD, putting its sales numbers at an all-time low since its launch almost 25 years ago.

From Circana's US Retail Tracking Service:For 2026 YTD ending August, Xbox hardware unit sales are down 33% versus a year ago in the US, while PlayStation hardware units are 25% lower.Xbox YTD US hardware unit sales are at an all-time low, while PlayStation is at lowest point since 2013.

— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-11T15:51:03.015Z

Piscatella said price …