Living room with Microsoft Xbox Series X (L) and Sony PlayStation 5 home video game consoles alongside a television and soundbar, taken on November 3, 2020.

Future Publishing via Getty Images via Getty Images

Even before the just-announced Xbox hardware price hikes, two previous increases have hamstrung both Microsoft and Sony, as per new Circana tracking data.

The Switch 2, of course, is immune, still the second-fastest-selling console ever (behind the Game Boy Advance) and up +38% compared to May 2025.

PS5, however, saw a -58% drop from last May after its price hike in April 2026, and hardware sales were its lowest for that month since 2000.

Xbox just had its lowest May sales… ever, though the caveat is that the system debuted in 2001, after Sony started making PlayStations. Though this time it was “only” down -12% since last May. Xbox spending is actually slightly up as some of the cost increases offset the declines. But all of this is before every Xbox unit increased its prices again by $100 to $150, as just announced.

The average new console price is up +14% from last May, $502 from $440. The report says there is still strong consumer demand, but it’s unclear how long that can hold given the constant, hefty price increases. Xbox has cited supply issues that make them unable to fill demand, but that’s because they are making a lot fewer consoles, due to these insane production costs.

All of these console manufacturers have seen component prices increase anywhere from 2x to 5x in the last few years, and Microsoft, as it announced these new hikes, says that storage costs will double again by fall 2027, indicating there is no end in sight. The costs have gotten so high that Microsoft opted to discontinue its 2TB Xbox Series X entirely, as that likely would have to have been priced at over $1,000. The 1TB Series X is now $800. PS5 Pro is the highest-priced console on the market at $900, though that’s about to be passed up by Valve’s long-awaited Steam Machine, which starts at $1,050 and is over $1,400 for higher-end models. Models that only have as much power as a base PS5, notably.

The problem here is that this does not seem temporary. Xbox is in the worst spot right now, its already horribly low sales before any of this happened, now hammered into dust by unavoidable price increases. Sony, as shown, is spiraling quickly, and there’s nothing to say it won’t have to do a third round of price raising itself. Nintendo, so far, has gotten away with a $50 Switch 2 price increase, and that’s it. Nintendo is Nintendo, after all, though even it might not be immune to market demands at some point.

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