United States video game spending hit a historic low for November despite the Black Friday period. Total consumer spending across hardware, content, and accessories fell four percent year over year to 5.9 billion dollars. Hardware sales were particularly dismal, dropping twenty-seven percent to their second-lowest November total in two decades.
Console unit sales collapsed to 1.6 million, a figure not seen since 1995. The Xbox Series X/S fell seventy percent, PlayStation five dropped forty percent, and even the new Nintendo Switch 2 could not prevent a ten percent decline for that platform. Accessories and physical game sales also posted double-digit decreases.
Analysts point to soaring prices for both essentials and gaming gear as the primary cause. The average console now costs 439 dollars, nearly double the price from 2019. Rising memory chip costs threaten further price hikes, potentially devastating the dedicated gaming device market. This economic pressure is now impacting even more affluent consumers who previously sustained sales.
In terms of software, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 led November sales but trails in the annual chart. Battlefield 6 remains the year-to-date leader and was the month's second best seller, positioning it as a potential annual victor over the traditional Call of Duty franchise. The overall market trend suggests a growing affordability crisis for the industry.
Console unit sales collapsed to 1.6 million, a figure not seen since 1995. The Xbox Series X/S fell seventy percent, PlayStation five dropped forty percent, and even the new Nintendo Switch 2 could not prevent a ten percent decline for that platform. Accessories and physical game sales also posted double-digit decreases.
Analysts point to soaring prices for both essentials and gaming gear as the primary cause. The average console now costs 439 dollars, nearly double the price from 2019. Rising memory chip costs threaten further price hikes, potentially devastating the dedicated gaming device market. This economic pressure is now impacting even more affluent consumers who previously sustained sales.
In terms of software, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 led November sales but trails in the annual chart. Battlefield 6 remains the year-to-date leader and was the month's second best seller, positioning it as a potential annual victor over the traditional Call of Duty franchise. The overall market trend suggests a growing affordability crisis for the industry.
