Xbox Achieved A Sales Record It Never Wanted – Here’s Why

We’ve seen a lot of changes to Xbox over the past couple of years, with Microsoft raising console prices and bringing some of its biggest games over to PlayStation. However, the latest sales numbers out of the U.S. show that Xbox has now hit a new record, and it’s not the kind of record that Microsoft is going to want to celebrate. According to reports shared on Bluesky, Xbox hardware sales in the U.S. are down 33% this year through the end of August when compared to the same period last year. That puts Xbox’s year-to-date sales at an all-time low in the U.S., which is a pretty big deal for a brand that has been around for almost 25 years now.

It isn’t just that fewer people are buying an Xbox. The people who are buying one are spending more, too, with the average price paid for a new Xbox hitting $529 so far this year. That’s 26% more than a year ago, and analyst Mat Piscatella even said that price sensitivity is “becoming a real problem.” We’ve already gone over some of the disadvantages of buying an Xbox in 2026, and price was high on that list even before Microsoft’s latest increase went into effect. If you’ve been putting off buying a new console this year, you’re definitely not the only one.

Xbox prices have gone up three times in two years

As for why fewer people are buying Xboxes, well, there are a few reasons at play. For starters, Microsoft has been raising the price of its consoles fairly often now. In fact, the most recent increase went into effect on August 1 and was actually the third time in two years that Xbox prices have gone up, with this round adding $100 to the 512GB models and $150 to the 1TB models. That brings the Xbox Series X up to $799.99 if you want a disc drive, while the Series S now starts at $499.99. In its announcement, Microsoft said that storage and memory prices for consoles have gone up more than 2.5x, and that it expects them to double again by the fall of 2027. That means we might even see another price jump before everything is said and done.

Of course, higher prices aren’t the only thing that might make someone think twice about buying an Xbox right now. Microsoft has been bringing more of its games to other platforms ever since we first saw four Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch back in 2024. Sony even announced last year that “Halo: Campaign Evolved” would launch on PS5 in 2026, which it did in July. On top of that, you can stream Xbox games on some smart TVs and Fire TV devices with a controller and a Game Pass subscription, so you don’t even need a console to play a lot of these games. If you mostly care about Xbox’s games and not the hardware itself, then you might never need to buy an Xbox console in the first place.

PlayStation isn’t doing much better

Xbox isn’t the only console struggling right now, either. The same report shows that PlayStation hardware sales are down 25% this year, which reportedly puts Sony at its lowest point since 2013. Sony raised its own prices back in April, too, with the PS5 Digital Edition now priced at $599.99 and the PS5 Pro at $899.99. If you’re thinking about going all out before prices rise again, then you may want to determine if the reasons why the PS5 Pro is actually worth $900 in 2026 apply to you; otherwise, the standard PS5 can still play games just fine.

There is still “Grand Theft Auto 6” to look forward to, which is set to launch on November 19. However, how well that helps things bounce back is going to depend on the industry’s overall availability and pricing with the ongoing RAM and component crisis, especially since some say that the U.S. hardware market “has not been in a more precarious position since the early ’80s.” There’s no doubt that is a rough outlook on things. If you’re planning to grab a console for “Grand Theft Auto 6,” it’s probably worth keeping an eye out for deals before you spend any of your hard-earned cash.