Circana: US Xbox Unit Sales Down 33% and PlayStation Down 25% in 2026 Through August

Circana’s video game industry analyst, Mat Piscatella, says US console sales are sharply lower this year. His figures run through August. He posted them on Bluesky on 9 October 2026 [1], and Tom’s Hardware reported them on 11 October [2].

Via Mat Piscatella (Circana) on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mxh53tutbk2g

Confirmed: the sales figures are Circana’s own, posted by its analyst. Reported: the prices and the explanations come from Tom’s Hardware.

What Circana says

The post is introduced as “From Circana’s US Retail Tracking Service”. It reads [1]:

“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.”

In plain words:

• “YTD ending August” means the year to date, with data through August. It is not data to October.
• “Hardware unit sales” counts consoles sold, not money taken.
• The figures are for the US only. The post says nothing about Nintendo or other countries.

Tom’s Hardware says Xbox is at its lowest since its launch almost 25 years ago [2]. Piscatella’s own words are “all-time low”.

Prices rose too

In a reply under the same post, Piscatella gives average prices. He says the average price a consumer paid for a new Xbox console in 2026 to August was $529, 26% higher than a year ago. For PlayStation it was $597, up 20%. He says both are “all-time US highs” and adds: “Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem.” [3]

Tom’s Hardware lists current US prices [2]. These are reported, and TSN has not checked them against the makers’ sites:

Tom’s also says Microsoft has raised Xbox prices three times in two years and that Sony raised PlayStation prices by $100 to $150 [2]. Neither company is quoted in the article, and TSN has not seen either company’s own price notice.

What Tom’s Hardware links it to

Tom’s Hardware ties the price rises to an “AI chip shortage” and to rising living costs, and says these have made console buying a lower priority for many families [2]. That is Tom’s Hardware’s framing. It is not Circana’s. Piscatella’s post gives no reason for the fall. TSN does not state a cause.

Tom’s also says Piscatella thinks the US hardware market has never been more precarious since the early 1980s [2]. That is Tom’s report of his view. TSN did not find it in his posts.

What is not known

• Why sales fell. Circana’s post gives numbers, not causes.
• How many consoles were sold. No unit totals are given.
• Whether the chip shortage drove the price rises. Tom’s says so; neither Microsoft, Sony nor Circana is quoted saying it.
• Nintendo’s position and sales outside the US.
• How the rest of 2026 will go. The data stop at August.

Sources

1. Mat Piscatella (Circana), Bluesky post, 9 October 2026, 14:00 UTC (15:00 BST) (Circana’s own analyst; read via Bluesky’s public API). https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mxh53tutbk2g
2. Tom’s Hardware (Jowi Morales), “Console market craters as Xbox sales crash 33% to the lowest since launch 25 years ago, PS5 sales drop 25%…”, 11 October 2026 (secondary report; prices, price-rise history and explanations are Tom’s). https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/console-market-craters-as-xbox-sales-crash-33-percent-to-the-lowest-since-launch-25-years-ago-ps5-sales-drop-25-percent-steep-price-hikes-push-series-x-to-usd800-and-ps5-pro-to-usd900
3. Mat Piscatella (Circana), Bluesky reply to his post, 9 October 2026, 14:02 UTC (average prices paid). https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mxh5aeokl22g

Related stories

• PC Shipments Fell 20.1% Last Quarter, IDC Says, as Memory-Driven Price Rises Bite
• AMD Reportedly Raised GDDR6 Prices for Board Partners From 1 October; Intel Also Said to Have Adjusted Its Prices
• Rumour: Leakers Say Nvidia Has Stopped Allocating GB202 Chips to the GeForce RTX 5090