Report: Consoles Had Its Worst November Holiday Sales In Thirty Years

When it comes to console gaming, the concept as a whole is showing to shrink as other avenues are entering the forefront. Last year, we saw the market respond with consoles still outpacing PC. However, mobile gaming was still a major opponent absorbing 50 percent of the market. Then paired with the more recent report on consoles barely breaking even what last-generation machines achieved only further illustrates that the industry is shifting.

So, where is this change taking place. One of the largest is pricing. Over the course of two years, it is no secret systems are now more expensive. Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo: all three have faced increased prices. Even Microsoft has faced certain hardships this holiday already as Xbox was knocked out of the top three systems by the underdog NEX Playground in November.

Now with additional context on November 2025 performance, Circana reveals that sales are at an all-time low for gaming. It is recorded that this market decline is comparable to performance tracked back in 1995. You can view the provided graph below:

On Bluesky, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella elaborated on the descending market performance for November 2025. “November 2025 U.S. Video Game Total Spending – Total projected spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 4% when compared to a year ago, to $5.9 billion. Hardware, accessory and console content declines drove the change. […] Monthly hardware spending dropped by 27% when compared to a year ago, to $695M.”

Piscatella continues by sharing that hardware buying power has recorded a new low since November 2007. And, that all platforms combined is the 30-year low for the industry only accounting for 1.6 million units. “1.6 million units of video game hardware across all platforms sold in the US during November, the lowest total for a November month since 1995.”

Physical games shared the same results as well. “November physical software spending fell 14% when compared to a year ago, to an all-time low for a November month since tracking began in 1995.” Accessories too were at a new low, Piscatella revealed. “Accessories spending fell 13% in November when compared to a year ago, to $327 million. Gamepad spending declined 19% year-on-year, driving the November drop. 2025 year-to-date spending finished November 7% lower than a year ago, at $2.3 billion.”

Ultimately while the cost has risen, the demand is minimizing. So while firms like Sony tout its platform to be the ‘most successful‘ in history, it does not account for units moved and more on gross revenue generated. Even the Nintendo Switch 2 is finding success with its even shattering a previous record for launch sales in Japan to the PlayStation 2, the hardware has yet to outpace its predecessor just yet. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised by this new report on console performance?