The U.S. video game console market is experiencing a severe downturn, with sales for major platforms dropping sharply compared to previous years. Industry tracking data from Circana reveals that year-to-date PlayStation 5 sales fell by 25%, marking its lowest performance since 2013. Meanwhile, Xbox hardware sales plummeted 33%, dragging retail performance to its lowest point since the franchise debuted nearly 25 years ago. Analysts point to extreme price sensitivity among consumers, driven by broader inflation and mounting component costs that have forced hardware manufacturers to repeatedly adjust retail prices upward over recent fiscal quarters.

In response to hardware shortages and escalating production costs, manufacturers have instituted substantial price increases across their product lineups. Microsoft expanded the Xbox Series X price to $799.99 for physical disc models, while Sony raised the PlayStation 5 Pro to an $899.99 MSRP. These elevated price points have reshaped the secondary market, pushing refurbished PS5 Pro units to $1,399 at major retailers. As macroeconomic pressures alter consumer spending priorities, industry observers note that the home console market faces its most precarious environment in decades, leaving manufacturers reliant on major software launches and holiday demand to stabilize hardware movement.

Read the original article on Tom’s Hardware.