November is traditionally a bustling month for holiday shopping, especially with Black Friday sales. However, this year, the gaming market in the US saw a decline, particularly in physical game and hardware sales. Reports suggest that total spending across video games, hardware, and accessories reached $5.9 billion, marking a 4% decrease from November 2024.
Plummeting Hardware Sales
The hardware sector experienced a significant drop, with spending falling to $695 million, a 27% decline compared to the previous year. This figure marks the second-lowest hardware spending since November 2005. Units sold reached only 1.6 million, closely following November 1995’s low of 1.4 million units. Among consoles, sales for Xbox Series X/S dropped by 70%, PlayStation 5 by 40%, and Nintendo Switch by 10%, despite the release of the Switch 2.
Impact on Accessories and Game Sales
Spending on accessories also fell, declining to $327 million, down by 13%. Controller sales specifically saw a 19% decrease. Interestingly, content sales, which include game titles and DLCs, grew by 1%. However, physical game sales hit a record low, falling 14% compared to last year, marking “an all-time low for a November since tracking began in 1995“.
Market Challenges and Future Prospects
The decline in spending is attributed to rising prices across the board, including video games. As essentials become more expensive, consumers have less disposable income for gaming. The average console price in the US rose from $239 in 2019 to $439. Rising hardware and game prices are impacting consumer spending, potentially signaling a longer-term trend. The full extent of this trend will become clearer when December’s figures are released in January 2026.
On the gaming chart front, despite Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 leading November’s sales, Battlefield 6 continues to dominate the year-to-date charts, maintaining strong momentum in the US market.