High Console Prices Push Playstation and Xbox Sales to New Lows

Oct 09, 2026 - 22:09

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High Console Prices Push Playstation and Xbox Sales to New Lows

Published Oct 9, 2026, 1:26 PM EDT

Elijah is a freelance news writer at Polygon. He was an associate editor at The A.V. Club and Paste, and has been featured in outlets like Game Informer, Fanbyte, Unwinnable, and more. He loves media in all forms, from fighting games and horror flicks to slow cinema and visual novels. He's from the Greater Boston area.

The RAM-pocalypse is wreaking havoc on the video game industry

A black Xbox Series X with green accents

As an ongoing component crisis continues to drive up console prices, gaming hardware sales are tanking. According to new U.S. retail data from Circana, Xbox hardware sales were down 33% year-to-date in August compared to this point in 2025. Meanwhile, PlayStation sales have dropped 25% over the same period.

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. — Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-10-09T14:00:00.119Z

In August, PlayStation unit sales fell 11% year over year, bringing them to the lowest August total since 2013. Xbox sales declined even more aggressively, down 31% for the lowest August since 2020. Nintendo also took a hit, down 15% from August last year. This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve heard that console sales are down. Circana previously reported similarly grim data for July.

All three major console manufacturers have raised hardware prices over the last year and a half. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S have had multiple price increases, with the Xbox Series X now going for $799.99, which is $300 more than at launch. The base PS5 went from $499 to $549.99 in August 2025, before getting bumped another $100 in April 2026. The Nintendo Switch 2 received a $50 increase this past September.

Why are console prices going up?

Because tech companies are building more AI data centers, RAM manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have shifted much of their memory chip production from consumer-oriented RAM to a different type of memory (SRAM) used for these data centers. This has caused a massive shortage in hardware components used in consumer electronics like game consoles, which has in turn driven up the price of these parts. Manufacturing consoles is now more expensive, and that cost is being passed on to consumers.

Circana data indicates that the average price paid for a new Xbox console through August 2026 is $529, up 26% from a year ago. The average PlayStation sold for $597, up 20%. Both of these prices are all-time U.S. highs, almost six years after these systems launched. Normally, prices move in the opposite direction, with a system bringing in a wider audience as hardware becomes more affordable.

While the impending release of Grand Theft Auto 6 will almost certainly boost game console sales in the short term, tech companies have said we shouldn’t expect hardware prices to come down anytime soon.