Damn. There’s no way for the video game industry to spin this
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Damn. There’s no way for the video game industry to spin this.
Console hardware sales are at their lowest level since 1995. November unit sales for 2025 came in at 1.6M. Barely above where the market sat three decades ago.
The difference is context. In 1995, the PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 were about to reset the entire industry. In 2025, there is no cavalry coming.
This was a launch year for the Switch 2. Combined sales of Switch 2 and the original Switch are still below Switch sales last year. That should not happen in a healthy market.
Elsewhere looks worse. PlayStation hardware sales are down 40%. Xbox is down 70%. That is not a cycle. That is structural damage.
One problem is that the previous generation is good enough. PS4, Switch, and Xbox One still run most games fine. Visual gains are incremental. Performance gains are niche. That is why new games keep shipping on old hardware.
If performance does matter, PC is the obvious upgrade path. A GPU costs more than a console. But console pricing has not fallen in 5 years. It has risen. The value proposition has flipped.
Consoles also face pressure from handheld PCs. The Switch 2 has respectable hardware. It does not meaningfully outclass the Steam Deck OLED. Against Legion Go or ROG Ally models, it loses outright. These devices sell fewer units, but they extract more money per unit and serve a broader use case.
Then there is the PC ecosystem itself. Games are cheaper. Online is free. Storefronts compete. Steam alone will see roughly 20,000 releases this year. That scale makes console libraries look constrained and curated by comparison.
A new Steam Machine is also expected next year. Pricing is unknown. But it will not be framed as a console. It will be a PC with a console interface. At $1,000, that is defensible because it is a general-purpose computer. Documents, media, creative work, keyboard and mouse support. Consoles cannot justify that comparison.
Low-end pressure is just as real. Smart TVs now handle gaming natively. Pair a controller to an Apple TV and you are done. Many LG TVs ship with Xbox, GeForce Now, and Luna built in. No external hardware required.
Below that, Android devices and Raspberry Pi systems cover emulation. This is not only piracy. There is active homebrew. New releases for obsolete systems. Fantasy consoles like PICO-8. With tools like FEX, running PC software on ARM hardware is no longer a barrier.
Console prices are rising while being attacked from both ends. High-end PCs above. Old consoles, smart TVs, mobile devices, and hobbyist hardware below.
The final problem is collectibility. Consoles used to mean shelves. Boxes. Physical proof of taste. Digital-only strategies erase that entirely. When ownership stops being visible, emotional attachment drops.
If you are not buying a console out of habit, there is little reason to buy one at all. The sales numbers reflect that. And the trajectory is not improving.
https://www.ign.com/articles/video-game-physical-software-and-hardware-sales-just-had-the-worst-november-in-the-us-since-1995 -
Damn. There’s no way for the video game industry to spin this.
Console hardware sales are at their lowest level since 1995. November unit sales for 2025 came in at 1.6M. Barely above where the market sat three decades ago.
The difference is context. In 1995, the PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 were about to reset the entire industry. In 2025, there is no cavalry coming.
This was a launch year for the Switch 2. Combined sales of Switch 2 and the original Switch are still below Switch sales last year. That should not happen in a healthy market.
Elsewhere looks worse. PlayStation hardware sales are down 40%. Xbox is down 70%. That is not a cycle. That is structural damage.
One problem is that the previous generation is good enough. PS4, Switch, and Xbox One still run most games fine. Visual gains are incremental. Performance gains are niche. That is why new games keep shipping on old hardware.
If performance does matter, PC is the obvious upgrade path. A GPU costs more than a console. But console pricing has not fallen in 5 years. It has risen. The value proposition has flipped.
Consoles also face pressure from handheld PCs. The Switch 2 has respectable hardware. It does not meaningfully outclass the Steam Deck OLED. Against Legion Go or ROG Ally models, it loses outright. These devices sell fewer units, but they extract more money per unit and serve a broader use case.
Then there is the PC ecosystem itself. Games are cheaper. Online is free. Storefronts compete. Steam alone will see roughly 20,000 releases this year. That scale makes console libraries look constrained and curated by comparison.
A new Steam Machine is also expected next year. Pricing is unknown. But it will not be framed as a console. It will be a PC with a console interface. At $1,000, that is defensible because it is a general-purpose computer. Documents, media, creative work, keyboard and mouse support. Consoles cannot justify that comparison.
Low-end pressure is just as real. Smart TVs now handle gaming natively. Pair a controller to an Apple TV and you are done. Many LG TVs ship with Xbox, GeForce Now, and Luna built in. No external hardware required.
Below that, Android devices and Raspberry Pi systems cover emulation. This is not only piracy. There is active homebrew. New releases for obsolete systems. Fantasy consoles like PICO-8. With tools like FEX, running PC software on ARM hardware is no longer a barrier.
Console prices are rising while being attacked from both ends. High-end PCs above. Old consoles, smart TVs, mobile devices, and hobbyist hardware below.
The final problem is collectibility. Consoles used to mean shelves. Boxes. Physical proof of taste. Digital-only strategies erase that entirely. When ownership stops being visible, emotional attachment drops.
If you are not buying a console out of habit, there is little reason to buy one at all. The sales numbers reflect that. And the trajectory is not improving.
https://www.ign.com/articles/video-game-physical-software-and-hardware-sales-just-had-the-worst-november-in-the-us-since-1995@atomicpoet Consoles are a hard sell to so many when they can play a game for free on their phone (even if it's full of ads and tracking).
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Damn. There’s no way for the video game industry to spin this.
Console hardware sales are at their lowest level since 1995. November unit sales for 2025 came in at 1.6M. Barely above where the market sat three decades ago.
The difference is context. In 1995, the PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 were about to reset the entire industry. In 2025, there is no cavalry coming.
This was a launch year for the Switch 2. Combined sales of Switch 2 and the original Switch are still below Switch sales last year. That should not happen in a healthy market.
Elsewhere looks worse. PlayStation hardware sales are down 40%. Xbox is down 70%. That is not a cycle. That is structural damage.
One problem is that the previous generation is good enough. PS4, Switch, and Xbox One still run most games fine. Visual gains are incremental. Performance gains are niche. That is why new games keep shipping on old hardware.
If performance does matter, PC is the obvious upgrade path. A GPU costs more than a console. But console pricing has not fallen in 5 years. It has risen. The value proposition has flipped.
Consoles also face pressure from handheld PCs. The Switch 2 has respectable hardware. It does not meaningfully outclass the Steam Deck OLED. Against Legion Go or ROG Ally models, it loses outright. These devices sell fewer units, but they extract more money per unit and serve a broader use case.
Then there is the PC ecosystem itself. Games are cheaper. Online is free. Storefronts compete. Steam alone will see roughly 20,000 releases this year. That scale makes console libraries look constrained and curated by comparison.
A new Steam Machine is also expected next year. Pricing is unknown. But it will not be framed as a console. It will be a PC with a console interface. At $1,000, that is defensible because it is a general-purpose computer. Documents, media, creative work, keyboard and mouse support. Consoles cannot justify that comparison.
Low-end pressure is just as real. Smart TVs now handle gaming natively. Pair a controller to an Apple TV and you are done. Many LG TVs ship with Xbox, GeForce Now, and Luna built in. No external hardware required.
Below that, Android devices and Raspberry Pi systems cover emulation. This is not only piracy. There is active homebrew. New releases for obsolete systems. Fantasy consoles like PICO-8. With tools like FEX, running PC software on ARM hardware is no longer a barrier.
Console prices are rising while being attacked from both ends. High-end PCs above. Old consoles, smart TVs, mobile devices, and hobbyist hardware below.
The final problem is collectibility. Consoles used to mean shelves. Boxes. Physical proof of taste. Digital-only strategies erase that entirely. When ownership stops being visible, emotional attachment drops.
If you are not buying a console out of habit, there is little reason to buy one at all. The sales numbers reflect that. And the trajectory is not improving.
https://www.ign.com/articles/video-game-physical-software-and-hardware-sales-just-had-the-worst-november-in-the-us-since-1995@atomicpoet Console makers also aren't holding up their end of the bargain.
We gave up flexibility in exchange for guarantees of performance, stability, compatibility, etc. Now they're trying to segment into tiers with stuff like PS5 Pro while also failing to release bulletproof software.
"Unstable at release but if we sell enough, we'll bother to fix it" is a losing proposition for people who already agreed to be locked in the walled gardens.
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@atomicpoet Consoles are a hard sell to so many when they can play a game for free on their phone (even if it's full of ads and tracking).
@WTL Smartphones killed dedicated handheld gaming. At least for Sony and Nintendo.
Low end handheld devices running Android still exist and are gaining popularity—mostly as emulation devices—which I’ve already mentioned.
That said, the problem with smartphone gaming is they’re not immersive and it eats battery power. -
@WTL Smartphones killed dedicated handheld gaming. At least for Sony and Nintendo.
Low end handheld devices running Android still exist and are gaining popularity—mostly as emulation devices—which I’ve already mentioned.
That said, the problem with smartphone gaming is they’re not immersive and it eats battery power.@atomicpoet My gaming these days is pretty much limited to playing Minecraft on my computer or things like Monument Valley on my phone. I have a console, but …
Every gamer is different, but the decline in popularity of consoles - and the costs of the games is certainly something to watch.
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@atomicpoet Console makers also aren't holding up their end of the bargain.
We gave up flexibility in exchange for guarantees of performance, stability, compatibility, etc. Now they're trying to segment into tiers with stuff like PS5 Pro while also failing to release bulletproof software.
"Unstable at release but if we sell enough, we'll bother to fix it" is a losing proposition for people who already agreed to be locked in the walled gardens.
Urzl Yeah, this is core. Over time, consoles have become more and more PC-like, but with none of the advantages of being a PC. At the same time, PCs have become more and more console-like, to the extent people often mistake them for consoles.
The fact people compare the Switch 2 to the Steam Deck OLED speaks volumes.
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Urzl Yeah, this is core. Over time, consoles have become more and more PC-like, but with none of the advantages of being a PC. At the same time, PCs have become more and more console-like, to the extent people often mistake them for consoles.
The fact people compare the Switch 2 to the Steam Deck OLED speaks volumes.
@atomicpoet I think multiplayer shouldn't be underestimated either.
I resent it like hell that they want me to pay extra per account to enable multiplayer on PlayStation. My kid and I can't play together with them upstairs and me downstairs on the other TV without both of us paying a monthly premium in 90% of games.
It's not just games, they're charging us for access to each other.
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@atomicpoet I think multiplayer shouldn't be underestimated either.
I resent it like hell that they want me to pay extra per account to enable multiplayer on PlayStation. My kid and I can't play together with them upstairs and me downstairs on the other TV without both of us paying a monthly premium in 90% of games.
It's not just games, they're charging us for access to each other.
Urzl One of the big selling points of the original Xbox was that you could connect them together with ethernet cables at no extra cost—just like a PC. Now you can’t do that anymore.
So if you want a good old-fashioned LAN party, PCs really are the only way to go.
I imagine this will be one giant benefit of the Steam Machine when it comes out.
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@atomicpoet My gaming these days is pretty much limited to playing Minecraft on my computer or things like Monument Valley on my phone. I have a console, but …
Every gamer is different, but the decline in popularity of consoles - and the costs of the games is certainly something to watch.
WTL Well, this is something I do watch—at least for the PC side—and it’s illuminating.
20,000 games will be released on Steam this year. The overwhelming majority of them are USD $25 or less. There’s a few premium games that sell for over USD $65. However, games priced between USD $25-45 are few and far between—something publishers tend to avoid because that price point is almost a death sentence.
Chris Trottier (@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)
Game releases have exploded in volume.Steam has already logged 19,000 titles for 2025, and we might clear 20,000 by year-end. That already surpasses all of 2024.Most of this is indie—low-budget gam...
(atomicpoet.org)
