Are we ready for new hardware?
- by Ben Kerry
Today, analyst firm Circana (formerly NPD), has revealed some interesting facts & figures about how the gaming industry is performing at the start of 2025 – and while earlier news about software sales was positive for Microsoft, a look at recent hardware sales proves a lot tougher.
Now, to be clear, the entire industry has has a slow January when it comes to hardware – with Circana noting that “spending dropped 45% when compared to a year ago”. The firm also adds that “this is the lowest January total for video game hardware spending since 2020”.
When you look at individual sales drops for each of the three major console makers, it’s not positive reading across the board really. PS5 sales are down 38% year-on-year, Xbox Series X|S is down 50%, and the aging Nintendo Switch is 53% lower than last year.
These statistics from Circana only cover the US market, and that goes for the software sales chart we posted about earlier too. Still, it’s been a similar story in other regions for Xbox as of late – console sales are dropping at a similar year-on-year rate over in Europe as well.
Opinions on this, PXers? Talk to us about this industry-wide sales struggle down below.
Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.
