Xbox Sales Are Down 70%, And It’s Because You’re Broke (And Smart)

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If you walked into a store this Black Friday and bought groceries instead of a new console, congratulations. You are now part of a massive and deeply depressing statistic.

November 2024 just became the worst month for console revenue since 2005. Think about that for a second. November is the golden month for video game sales, the annual feeding frenzy where Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo rake in billions. This year, according to a devastating new report from Circana (spotted by Paul Tassi at Forbes), the entire industry drove straight off a cliff.

The Numbers Are Catastrophic : Xbox Sales Down 70%

The figures are brutal, even for someone who expected bad news. Xbox Series X/S sales cratered by a staggering 70% year-over-year. That is not a downturn or a rough patch. That is a full-blown implosion. Sony is not celebrating either, with PS5 sales plunging 40%. Even Nintendo, the company that prints money, took a 10% hit despite the Switch 2 launching just this past June.

Physical game sales? They have dropped to their lowest level since 1995. Welcome to the darkest timeline.

It’s The Prices, Stupid

You do not need an economics degree to understand why consumers are walking away. Normally, console prices decrease as the hardware generation matures. In 2025, we are living in the upside down. Thanks to tariffs and vague “market conditions” (corporate speak for “everything is awful”), the barrier to entry has become a concrete wall.

Here is the brutal reality. An Xbox Series X now costs between $600 and $800 depending on the bundle. The Series S, originally marketed as the affordable entry point, sits at $400 to $450. That is more expensive than a launch PS5 cost five years ago. As for Sony, a PS5 Pro will set you back $750. For a gaming console.

This pricing strategy is completely delusional.

Microsoft Saw This Coming

The warning signs have been flashing for months, which explains Microsoft’s strange marketing shift. The company has essentially started running advertisements telling consumers they do not actually need an Xbox. When your flagship hardware costs as much as a beater car, pivoting to “just subscribe to Game Pass on your Fire Stick” stops being clever marketing and becomes a survival tactic.

A Luxury We Can’t Afford

Here is the uncomfortable truth. Around 70% of Americans feel completely priced out of the current economy. When rent and groceries devour your entire paycheck, a $750 PS5 Pro or an $800 Xbox is not just a difficult purchase. It feels like an insult.

Gaming finds itself in a bizarre predicament. PC gaming is getting strangled by astronomical GPU prices while console gaming prices itself into complete irrelevance. If you managed to snag a console back in 2020, hold onto that thing like your life depends on it. That might be the last piece of affordable gaming hardware you ever own.