US Console Sales Hit Worst August in 13 Years
August hardware sales sank 15% to 559,000 units as high console prices pushed average spend up to $541.
US video game hardware sales fell 15% year over year to 559,000 units in August, the lowest total for that month since 2013, according to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella. PlayStation unit sales dropped 11%, Xbox fell 31% to its weakest August since 2020, and Nintendo slipped 15% against the same month last year. It is the weakest showing for the month in well over a decade, and it lands in a year with no successor consoles officially unveiled.
The unusual part is pricing. Average hardware spend climbed from $476 in 2025 to $541, with consoles sitting at historically high prices, so buyers are paying more for far fewer machines. Earlier 2026 price rises also pulled demand forward in a buying wave that drained summer purchases, though Sony still grew dollar sales 17% on premium models. Content spending slid 10% to $3.8 billion, with PC the lone bright spot, up 13%. Software held up somewhat better than hardware, and physical spending actually edged higher on the back of Switch 2 game-key cards.
Tags
- playstation
- xbox
- nintendo
- business
- hardware
Sources
Where this story ran: one outlet on 8 October 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.