It is absolutely no surprise to anyone in the market for a new gaming console that prices have risen rather sharply in the last year-and-change, but fresh insights from a trusted industry analyst put some context into just how bad things have gotten.
The ongoing RAM shortages, coupled with tariff-driven increases in hardware prices, have driven each of the three big console manufacturers; Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo; to drive up console prices numerous times in less than two years. If you want a brand-new PS5 Pro, you're looking at $900, while the disc version of the Xbox Series X is now priced at $800. Meanwhile, Nintendo's second Switch 2 price hike means you'll need to drop $500 on the base model of the current-gen system.
Circana's Mat Piscatella, citing data from the company's US retail tracking system, says these price increases have, unsurprisingly, resulted in slowed sales for both Sony and Microsoft. Specifically, "For 2026 YTD ending August, Xbox hardware unit sales are down 33% versus a year ago in the US, while PlayStation hardware units are 25% lower," says Piscatella on Bluesky. "Xbox YTD US hardware unit sales are at an all-time low, while PlayStation is at lowest point since 2013."
Looking at year-to-date console price changes in averages and percentages, Piscatella says "the average price a consumer has paid for a new Xbox console in 2026 YTD ending August is $529, 26% higher than a year ago, while the average PlayStation console has sold for $597, 20% higher than last year.
"Both prices are at all-time US highs. Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem."
Perhaps the release of the Big Video Game in November will help ease at least some of these declines. But this will also depend on product availability given the RAM and component crisis. And pricing, of course. The US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s.
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-09T18:15:04.217Z
"Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem" just might be the most broadly relatable sentence possible living in the US in 2026, but Piscatella shares a small glimmer of hope in a certain video game that rhymes with Grand Theft Auto Fix. "Perhaps the release of the Big Video Game in November will help ease at least some of these declines," Piscatella says, clearly alluding to GTA 6, but even that is a big uncertainty. "This will also depend on product availability given the RAM and component crisis. And pricing, of course," says Piscatella, concluding with a dramatic contextualization of the current environment:
"The US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s."
Of course, Piscatella seems to be referencing the historic video game crash that happened from 1983 to 1985 and saw revenue attributed to US home video game sales fall 97% from about $3.2 billion in 1983 to $100 million in 1985. We haven't quite reached that level of catastrophe yet, and there's hope component shortages and tariff-related costs will eventually stabilize and ease some of the pressure on the console market, but going into the holiday season, console shoppers shouldn't expect substantial relief outside of big sales like Black Friday.
