The average American paid 597 dollars for a new PlayStation in 2026 and 529 dollars for an Xbox. Consoles have never cost that much in the US, and buyers are voting with their wallets: over eight months Xbox unit sales fell 33 percent to an all-time low, and PlayStation fell 25 percent to its weakest point since 2013. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella published the numbers on October 9.
The average price is up 20 to 26 percent
According to Circana's US Retail Tracking Service, the average price paid for a new Xbox from January to August rose 26 percent year over year, and for a PlayStation 20 percent. Working backwards, a year ago that was roughly 420 dollars for an Xbox and 498 for a PlayStation. Piscatella put it bluntly: price sensitivity is becoming a real problem.
The cause is no secret, and it is not one company being greedy. Memory and storage got more expensive, and the platform holders raised prices one after another. According to TechPowerUp, the PS5 Pro went up to 899.99 dollars in April, the Xbox Series X has cost 799.99 since August 1, and the Switch 2 moved to 499.99 in September.
August was the worst since 2013
- 559,000 consoles. That is how many sold in the US in August, 15 percent fewer than a year ago. The only weaker August was in 2013, at 423,000.
- By platform. PlayStation units fell 11 percent, Xbox 31 percent, Nintendo 15 percent. PS5 dollar sales still grew 17 percent: fewer consoles, but pricier ones.
- A record average price. In August buyers paid 541 dollars on average for any console, up from 476 a year earlier.
- The leader. Switch 2 ranked first in both units and dollars, for August and for the year so far. PS5 was second.
Hardware spending dropped less than units in August, down 3 percent to 302 million dollars. Year to date, Americans spent 2.5 billion on consoles, 11 percent behind 2025's pace. The whole games market, including software and accessories, shrank 9 percent in August to 4.3 billion.
Piscatella himself sounds gloomy: in his words, the US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s. He thinks the "Big Video Game in November", meaning GTA 6, could ease some of the decline, but adds right away that it depends on whether consoles are even available given the RAM and component crisis, and on how much they cost.
These are US numbers only, and Circana does not publish the same data for Europe. Still, if you were planning to buy a console for GTA 6, a report like this is no reason to wait for a discount before November.
Sources
Circana US Retail Tracking Service data: Mat Piscatella's Bluesky posts from October 8, 2026 (August results) and October 9, 2026 (January to August). The 2025 prices are our own calculation from the increases Circana reported. Price increases for the PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X and Switch 2: TechPowerUp.
Console photos from Wikimedia Commons: the PS5 by Osh33m, the Xbox Series X by Der. Bellemer and the Switch 2 by Crisco 1492, all under CC BY-SA 4.0.
