Players Stopped Buying Consoles. Now The Industry Is Paying

The last time console sales looked like this, it killed a hardware maker.

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00:00 – Xbox Lost To A Kids Toy
02:19 – Capcom Named The Problem
04:03 – People Stopped Upgrading
09:44 – Sales Down, Price Up
16:07 – Delay, Delay, Delay

Sources:
https://www.eurogamer.net/tech-2025-new-playstation-6-tech-all-but-confirmed-by-sony-and-amd

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/06/19/xbox-amd-next-generation-xbox/

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-confirms-ps5-has-more-monthly-players-than-ps4-for-the-first-time/

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/466345/ps5-vs-ps4-sales-comparison-october-2025/

https://bellular.games/loading-screen-capcom-says-playstation-to-blame-for-poor-monster-hunter-sales/

https://x.com/MikeStrawMedia/status/1813224134878314698?s=20

2025 Year-to-Date Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-11-20T14:01:56.735Z

2024 Year Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U.S. (Dollar Sales, Physical and Digital from digital data sharing publishers, excludes add-on content)

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T14:03:20.592Z

https://www.ign.com/articles/rockstar-says-gta-6-will-be-the-largest-game-launch-in-history

https://bellular.games/loading-screen-rockstars-union-busting-allegations/

https://kotaku.com/old-games-2023-playtime-data-fortnite-roblox-minecraft-1851382474

Circana Player Engagement Tracker – Top 15 Titles by Total Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) – W/E Dec 6, 2025- Red Dead Redemption jumps with upgrade – reaches top 15 on US PlayStation with PS+ add- Elden Ring: Nightreign returns to Steam top 15s with The Forsaken Hollows release

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-12-13T16:39:24.753Z

https://www.hoyolab.com/article/40408849

https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-announces-cheaper-japanese-language-only-ps5-just-for-japan

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/11/ps5-sales-in-japan-quadruple-as-new-model-launches

https://www.polygon.com/ps5-lifespan-2025-earnings-call/

https://www.ign.com/articles/video-game-physical-software-and-hardware-sales-just-had-the-worst-november-in-the-us-since-1995

The average price paid for a new unit of video game hardware in the US during November 2019 was $235. In November 2025 it was $439.3.9 million units of video game hardware sold in the US in November 2019. In November 2025 it was 1.6 million.Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-12-17T14:46:08.431Z