2025 was ‘the worst year on record’ for Xbox consoles in the UK

2025 was “comfortably” the worst year on record for Xbox consoles in the UK

That’s according to sales data shared by The Game Business journalist Christopher Dring, who claimed on social media that Xbox console sales were down nearly 40% last year, compared to 2024.

2025 was a challenging year for all console platforms, with PlayStation 5 sales also down 19% in the UK, but the sharper decline in Xbox hardware comes as Microsoft increasingly switches its focus away from its own hardware and traditional console exclusives.

Xbox’s shift to multiformat releases began in early 2024, with the strategy accelerating last year, as numerous Xbox console exclusives made their way to PlayStation, including Gears of War and Forza Horizon.

Recently, Xbox president Sarah Bond called the idea of exclusives “antiquated”, and there is evidence that the multiplatform strategy is working for the Xbox business: between April and July, six of the top 10 best-selling games on PS5 were from Microsoft.

Outside of the UK, it was grim reading for console sales in the US during the historically lucrative months of November. According to Circana data, hardware and software sales in the US had the worst November since tracking began.

November is usually one of the biggest months for hardware sales, due to a combination of Black Friday deals and purchases for Christmas.

However, last year the average price paid for a new unit of video game hardware was $439, an all-time high (and 11% higher than last year), which was likely the main reason sales were comparatively low.

According to Circana, PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in November, followed by Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.