Americans bought fewer video game consoles this August than in any August in 13 years. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, US hardware unit sales fell 15% from a year ago to 559,000 units, the lowest August total since 2013, when 423,000 units sold.
The drop hit every platform. PlayStation unit sales fell 11%, also to their lowest August since 2013. Xbox units fell 31%, its lowest August since 2020, and Nintendo hardware units dipped 15%. Nintendo Switch 2 still led the US market in both units and dollars for August and for the year so far, with PlayStation 5 second on both measures.
Players are paying more for what they do buy. The average price of a new piece of video game hardware hit an August record of $541, up from $476 a year ago. That’s why hardware spending fell only 3% to $302 million despite the steep drop in units. PS5 hardware dollar sales actually grew 17% year over year, while Xbox Series and Switch 2 spending each fell 13%. Year to date, hardware spending is $2.5 billion, 11% behind 2025’s pace.
Total spending across content, hardware, and accessories dipped 9% to $4.3 billion. Mobile was the biggest drag, down 18%, and console content fell 7%. PC content was the bright spot, up 13%, and subscription spending rose 3%. NBA 2K27 was August’s best-selling game, followed by Madden NFL 27, and Elden Ring jumped from 41st in July to 7th after its Switch 2 release. Indie hit Big Walk also cracked the top 10.
There was one surprise in physical games. New physical software spending is up 5% for the year so far, and Piscatella told Kotaku that Switch 2 Game-Key Cards are the reason. “Last year there were 10 titles published as Game-Key Cards,” he said. “This year 54 more Game-Key Card titles have been published.” Spending on those releases is up 631%, which covers a 3% drop for traditional discs and cartridges.
High prices are showing up at retail in other ways too. Ahead of GTA VI, GameStop listed a pre-owned PS5 Pro at $1,399.99, $500 over Sony’s price.
