[Windows Central] No, it's not just Xbox - ALL video game console sales are massively down year-over-year

PC surely has to be the largest market, so of course it's mainstream, but it will never be as accessible to the average crowds who just want to play FIFA or the next big AAA shooter. Consoles that sell aren't going anywhere. Xbox being in such an abysmal position doesn't affect Sony and Nintendo in the slightest. You can't compare a slight drop in yearly hardware sales for them to the complete nosedive in Xbox Series hardware.
 
As bad as the Xbox numbers are, I expected worse. Surprised that many bought it considering its rather iffy status. Then again probably lots out there clueless about the many fuckups MS have been doing for the past few years and more so lately.
 
So after a bit of research, I think windows central has a point:

1. Nov 1994: Estimated ~2.0M+ Units. This was a peak "16-bit" holiday.
2. Finding a November with sales lower than the 1.4 million units of 1995 requires going back quite deep into the early 80s
3. To find a number lower than 1.4 million, you have to look at the years before the SNES/Genesis peak and the years immediately following the Great Video Game Crash of 1983.

4. For contrast, the highest November on record was November 2008, which saw over 8 million units sold in North America.

Given that prices will keep rising even more next year, I'm assuming this number will go further down? Possibly less than a million? Kind of exciting, we're looking at a potential pretty major collapse of the physical console market (if worldwide trends are similar to US as they usually are). It's time for core platforms to remain niche and become a luxury as AI (and investment in it) isn't going anywhere soon. Maybe via AI (upscaling), we can get far more advanced games running on old platforms.
 
Christ, this thread is full of 12 year old "Copium, Jez cries, Microsoft gets worse, Windows Central downplays it." Grow up.


Back IT, great, I hope Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have the worst Christmas in the last 2,000 years.
This gen has made me hate them like never before. The price increases (jesus even for the Switch 1, which is a potato) are ridiculous and fucking annoying. These companies make billions upon billions, you can't whine if RAM increases for you by 10 cents per unit and with that excuse you increase the price of the consoles several times. I mean fuck off. Really fuck off.

You can easily absorb a 0.5% loss in the grand scheme of things. These companies have become greedy beyond the limit because you consider me an idiot. The line has been passed.
I hope the industry collapses. There's always the PC and the indie world, we'll never run out of video games.

Fuck you Sony, greedy as fuck.
Fuck you Microsoft. Stupid as fuck.
Nintendo you are lucky for your first party, but yeah fuck you too.
 
Drew1440 said:
I've been hearing this ever since they introduced SVGA cards on PC, consoles aren't going anywhere so long as they remain cheap and accessible.
Click to expand...
It's even more funny because they are talking about US gaming spend where "the market" most certainly have NOT chosen PC.
 
Angry_Megalodon said:
Just a few days ago there was another thread predicting a big increase in the industry revenue so this is another bullshit article by the usual suspect.
Click to expand...
How is it bullshit when console sales are actually down? You could argue that last year saw PS5 Pro and that inflated the numbers for people upgrading, but that is not new PS5 owners. Obviously Xbox is a joke, but reduced PS5 sales while discounted to last year's prices beat the new Switch. It's a sign that something is off. Prices may be too high for people to jump in and this could lead to other gaming options getting more popular. At the very least it is concerning. Not gloom and doom, but it makes the old days when consoles got cheaper, sold a shit ton later in the cycle and platform owners put out a lot of great, late gen games.
 
Magic-DEI-Hire said:
The "engagement" metrics don't suggest a downturn in interest. People are more selective with their money given the economic environment, common sense.

And they're not going for Xbox.
Click to expand...
If that were the entire story, the other brands would be way up due to all the new customers. Theres really no great way to frame this for gaming. Maybe its just the economy. Maybe people have been so heavily into gaming since covid that it had no where to go but down. Either way, its clearly trending down.
 
wolffy66 said:
If that were the entire story, the other brands would be way up due to all the new customers. Theres really no great way to frame this for gaming. Maybe its just the economy. Maybe people have been so heavily into gaming since covid that it had no where to go but down. Either way, its clearly trending down.
Click to expand...
Entire US spending is down:


Why would the other brands be way up? They would be way up in marketshare, and they were. Not in total.
 
adamsapple said:
Cool.

Point it out when you see it, unfortunately there's nothing wrong with their reporting here. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
There isn't anything wrong by which I assume you mean incorrect but the framing from Windows Central is always biased towards xbox. US spending has collapsed (not just gaming) but that wouldn't explain the abysmal marketshare of sales from xbox this November. That's still xbox collapsing.
 
Three said:
There isn't anything wrong by which I assume you mean incorrect but the framing from Windows Central is always biased towards xbox. US spending has collapsed (not just gaming) but that wouldn't explain the abysmal marketshare of sales from xbox this November. That's still xbox collapsing.
Click to expand...


WbKiaVrEZdC5p8Gx.jpeg


giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
Many factors at play here:

1. Xbox has cratered its hardware business
2. Cloud gaming is a thing some users will just be doing that.
3. Hardware is increasingly expensive and the economy is shit.
4. Younger generation gamers have been psychologically manipulated to be incredibly addicted to a few limited dopamine machine forever games that don't need new hardware and run on potatoes.
5. Younger generations (well, and everyone) are addicted to doom scrolling socials, leaving little time for gaming.
6. Product appeal to core demographics has been weakened in an effort to find new "modern audience" markets, that have largely failed, but have weakened the appeal both in terms of product but also front of shop marketing appeal to young male gamers, who are increasingly right wing. Many of the headline games that would typically drive new hardware sales are an active turn off for this core demographic. Regardless of any ideological side anyone takes, this is just what it is.
7. Limited innovation, diminishing returns. There's really no longer a big jump, people can be quite content with what they have, and if they are going to get a new device, they may feel "I've held out this long, I may as well wait for ps6" etc.
8. Stagnant "safe" software approach from the developers who would typically create games that drive hardware sales. Money men have made these games safe and boring.
9. Loss of identity. Consoles (except Nintendo) are well on the way to becoming just PC adjacent, losing their edge and unique identities.
10. Loss of exclusivity (except Nintendo), pc efforts of both ms and Sony mean pc gamers who may have bought consoles will just choose not to.

No single one of these would drive a collapse in hardware sales, but all together can certainly have a deleterious effect…which is what we're seeing.
 
Three said:
There isn't anything wrong by which I assume you mean incorrect but the framing from Windows Central is always biased towards xbox. US spending has collapsed (not just gaming) but that wouldn't explain the abysmal marketshare of sales from xbox this November. That's still xbox collapsing.
Click to expand...
Damage Control for MS (SonyToo) is such a second nature for some that sometimes I am almost not sure they are aware.
 
adamsapple said:
WbKiaVrEZdC5p8Gx.jpeg


giphy.gif
Click to expand...
I don't get it, the headline for Windows central isn't that. It's this
Screenshot-20251220-134339-Chrome.jpg


And that's what he means by "windows central and the ball washing they do for Microsoft."

It tries to make xbox's marketshare collapse to 6:1 and being outsold by NEX seem like a wider console problem. Even goes as far as stanning for Next Xbox/PC hybrid in the article. As if that is going to fair better at $1000 or whatever. The hardware figures are all gaming hardware and PC accessories. Hell there is a decline in spending overall for everything. I'm not sure how WC thinks an expensive next xbox is the solution MS figured out to selling more units.
what people mention about xbox is related to how it has fallen. being outsold by NEX and PS5 selling 6 times it. Nobody has really said the economy isn't in the shitter. It's windows centrals framing of it as usual that's bullshit ball washing for Microsoft. That's what's wrong with it.
 
Last edited:
Three said:
It tries to make xbox's marketshare collapse to 6:1 and being outsold by NEX seem like a wider console problem.
Click to expand...

Isn't it?

Either you think the worst hardware results in 30 years isn't a wider console problem.

Or you think Xbox's sales alone are the direct cause of that result, which would be pretty impressive for what some have been calling a 'dead console' for a long while.
 
adamsapple said:
Cool.

Point it out when you see it, unfortunately there's nothing wrong with their reporting here. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
You know exactly what I meant, no need to take a bullet for... *checks paper*... Windows Central.

If a new outlet tomorrow called HermanHulstisdaddy.com/triangle/cross/circle/square puts an article saying "never mind that Concord failed, as actually the majority of GaaS fail, so nothing to see here", something tells me you would have a problem with that framing too :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
adamsapple said:
Isn't it?

Either you think the worst hardware results in 30 years isn't a wider console problem.

Or you think Xbox's sales alone are the direct cause of that result, which would be pretty impressive for what some have been calling a 'dead console' for a long while.
Click to expand...
Adam come on man..
Xbox being out sold by whatever that thing is (I haven't bothered to even look it up) is 100% a Xbox problem whether the market is down or not. I know you're an Xbox fan and while I give you I never you egregiously dense but you know damn well that Windows Central and Jez have a notorious Xbox bias.

Their article literally starts with "No, it's not just Xbox" as a way to be like hey guys I know people are talking about Xbox negatively right now but talk about the other guys too in a way to try to deflect and you know that's what it is. The same way that every single time there is any negative Xbox news Jez has something to say to either discount it or try to combat it with something positive out of nowhere.
 
adamsapple said:
Isn't it?
Click to expand...
No? There are two separate issues here. Xbox's marketshare collapse and an economic downturn (which is not specifically a "console problem" either). Both can be true at the same time. If it was not an xbox problem but purely a downturn xbox would simply have the same share of a smaller pie. That's not the case though. Xbox has a much smaller share of a smaller pie. To the point where a previously unknown device called NEX has a bigger share of that pie than xbox and PS having a piece that is 6 times larger than it. The size of the pie is irrelevant. Windows central's spin is that no xbox isn't in trouble it's "consoles". Ok we're in an economic downturn doesn't mean xbox doesn't have a problem that extends far beyond that.
 
CentralScrutinizer said:
People need to stop getting salty about factual reporting. Yes every console was down big time this holiday. Yes Xbox was down more. But if Xbox being down more makes you feel better about your own system being 40% down, you need to let the console war go. This fall was a bad look for everyone, but a worse look for Xbox.
Click to expand...


The article starts with a factually correct statement:

It is easy to point the finger at Xbox lately, and sometimes for good reason. Online discourse often centres on the brand. November 2025, however, tells a slightly different story, with data pointing to a market-wide downturn affecting every major console platform, not just Xbox.
Click to expand...

Is Xbox down? yes of course.
Are all the consoles down? also yes of course.


Three said:
Windows central's spin is that no xbox isn't in trouble it's "consoles"
Click to expand...

It's not WC's spin, it's Circana's direct reporting.

Hardware
Monthly hardware spending dropped by 27% when compared to a year ago, to $695M. This is the lowest video game hardware spending total for a November month since the $455M reached during the November 2005 tracking period.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Console market is shrinking. In theory if Xbox is down 30M units...PS5 should be up by 30M over where PS4 was...but it's not. It may not even match PS4.
 
adamsapple said:
It's not WC's spin, it's Circana's direct reporting.
Click to expand...
It leaves out any sort of critical thinking to farm hits because it's a "shocking" headline but circana has no real analysis because it's not their job to do so.

Windows Central tries to use the lack of analysis as an opportunity to frame as everyone being in trouble but is really a poor analysis.
 
Unknown? said:
It leaves out any sort of critical thinking to farm hits because it's a "shocking" headline but circana has no real analysis because it's not their job to do so.

Windows Central tries to use the lack of analysis as an opportunity to frame as everyone being in trouble but is really a poor analysis.
Click to expand...
I mean, if the November trend isnt corrected, everyone IS in trouble. It's just that Xbox is more in trouble and we all know that. The article even knows that.

The thing is before November we already knew Xbox was dead and continuing to massively decline. In that context I don't think Xbox' performance during November is that noteworthy, but PS5 and Switch 2 performance is extremely noteworthy.
 
Last edited:
CentralScrutinizer said:
I mean, if the November trend any corrected, everyone IS in trouble. It's just that Xbox is more in trouble and we all know that. The article even knows that.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Is WC the beacon of reporting? No. But they are not saying anything wrong here. I guess the only issue here is that it's Windows Central saying it, not some other outlet ????




8FZgDr6zml676jiN.jpeg
 
CentralScrutinizer said:
I mean, if the November trend isnt corrected, everyone IS in trouble. It's just that Xbox is more in trouble and we all know that. The article even knows that.

The thing is before November we already knew Xbox was dead and continuing to massively decline. In that context I don't think Xbox' performance during November is that noteworthy, but PS5 and Switch 2 performance is extremely noteworthy.
Click to expand...
Sure but one month's of data is premature to call that and it isn't due to lack of demand like it is with Xbox, it has larger factors at play that are not mentioned by the article.

The biggest factor is price in a very weak economy(I'd argue we've been in a recession since covid[or at least 2022] despite what the government numbers say). Switch 2 is way more expensive than the original, PS5 is still launch price, Xbox is the most expensive console of all time with no appeal. PS5 Pro launched last year which boosted sells a bit. The Holiday's strongest traditional game(COD) was weak compared to normal, no big must have titles released this holiday season.

So there are issues but it doesn't show any trend like suggested.
 
DeepEnigma said:
"All consoles are down, some one are just down way more than others."

Danger 5 Laughing GIF
Click to expand...
When I saw the source, I too, had a sensible chuckle. They aren't wrong, it's just comically laughable that they would include the other consoles, even if they are down, because the Xbox has almost always been in the same sales position, minus the 360 days. ROFL!
 
Unknown? said:
Sure but one month's of data is premature to call that and it isn't due to lack of demand like it is with Xbox, it has larger factors at play that are not mentioned by the article.

The biggest factor is price in a very weak economy(I'd argue we've been in a recession since covid[or at least 2022] despite what the government numbers say). Switch 2 is way more expensive than the original, PS5 is still launch price, Xbox is the most expensive console of all time with no appeal. PS5 Pro launched last year which boosted sells a bit. The Holiday's strongest traditional game(COD) was weak compared to normal, no big must have titles released this holiday season.

So there are issues but it doesn't show any trend like suggested.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with you at all.
 
Punished Miku said:
Argument #1 is that these are broad trends. Xbox is affected first because they're in last place, but it's coming for all consoles. Declines in interest in younger generations, spiking hardware costs upending the traditional subsidization model, economic downturn.
Click to expand...
PlayStation and Switch have their active userbases and game revenues at record levels and growing, there isn't any decline in interest there.

PS5 has a decline YoY because it's expected in the 5th year of a console, consoles at that point have passed their peak year and go down YoY. But launch aligned, it's performing pretty much like PS4, and above it in countries like US. It's also worth mentioning that last year PS had the PS5 Pro release, which caused a bump.

The only decline in interest is in Xbox, who keeps losing more and more market share and launch aligned keeps worsening its comparision versus their previous gen console.
 
Last edited:
Sooner said:
Xbox fans still acting like Sony, Nintendo and Xbox all just add the revenue together and divide by 3 to split evenly.
Click to expand...
This.

One of the major reasons for the console decline is one of the big console makers (Xbox) deciding they don't want to be in it anymore, of course category spending will decline if less marketing is happening for said category.

With that said, this creates a big opportunity for Sony and Nintendo to slowly raise the ceiling of the market over the years to come with greater marketshare.
 
CentralScrutinizer said:
People need to stop getting salty about factual reporting. Yes every console was down big time this holiday. Yes Xbox was down more. But if Xbox being down more makes you feel better about your own system being 40% down, you need to let the console war go. This fall was a bad look for everyone, but a worse look for Xbox.

Sony fans this month are like the equivalent of poor racist white people voting for Trump, not because they think Trump will make their lives better, but because it'll make minorities' lives worse.
Click to expand...
Man shut up.
 
CentralScrutinizer said:
People need to stop getting salty about factual reporting. Yes every console was down big time this holiday. Yes Xbox was down more. But if Xbox being down more makes you feel better about your own system being 40% down, you need to let the console war go. This fall was a bad look for everyone, but a worse look for Xbox.

Sony fans this month are like the equivalent of poor racist white people voting for Trump, not because they think Trump will make their lives better, but because it'll make minorities' lives worse.
Click to expand...

Factual reporting when it suits them yes
 
I mean, on the one hand, this is correct. The Circana report was seriously bad news for the industry as a whole, because it shows that the "normie" segment of the market are feeling the price crunch and starting to look elsewhere for entertainment options. This does raise the possibility of a serious market contraction. It's too early to know if this is a fluke or a long term trend, but if it's the latter that would be a major problem for Nintendo, Sony, and basically all third parties, as well as Microsoft.

On the other hand, there's no denying the fact that Xbox's hardware collapse had been uniquely catastrophic in a way that's just not comparable to Nintendo or Sony. They started in a tenuous place this gen and have been hemorrhaging market share since they raised prices earlier this year. Black Friday just confirmed how bad things are for them.

Denying either half of this situation is basically just cope and spin at this point.
 
blacktout said:
I mean, on the one hand, this is correct. The Circana report was seriously bad news for the industry as a whole, because it shows that the "normie" segment of the market are feeling the price crunch and starting to look elsewhere for entertainment options. This does raise the possibility of a serious market contraction. It's too early to know if this is a fluke or a long term trend, but if it's the latter that would be a major problem for Nintendo, Sony, and basically all third parties, as well as Microsoft.

On the other hand, there's no denying the fact that Xbox's hardware collapse had been uniquely catastrophic in a way that's just not comparable to Nintendo or Sony. They started in a tenuous place this gen and have been hemorrhaging market share since they raised prices earlier this year. Black Friday just confirmed how bad things are for them.

Denying either half of this situation is basically just cope and spin at this point.
Click to expand...
I don't think I've seen anyone denying the state of Xbox and how catastrophic it is. We've had two threads in the aftermath of the November Circana report. One was dedicated to the total collapse of Xbox, the other (this one) is more about the market retraction in general. Both are valid discussions worth having.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

(IGN) Xbox U.S. Console Unit Sales Just Reached an All-Time November Low
2 3 4
163
210
Unknown? replied
The Year Without An Xbox: How will Xbox not putting forth an effort to sell Xbox Series consoles this year affect the gaming industry going forward?
3 4 5 6 7
313
983
Starbuck2907 replied
[Windows Central] No, Target and Walmart are not removing Xbox products from their stores [Update] Target Confirms
5 6 7 8 9
405
2K
onQ123 replied
Windows Central: Forza Horizon 6 to be announced at TGS this year
2 3 4
157
2K
CentralScrutinizer replied
  • Locked
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 European launch sales are 63% down over Battlefield 6. More than 60% down over last year's Black Ops 6. (Digital / Physical)
1
153
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Top Bottom