Hardware sales and physical game spending in the US just had the worst November in 30 years

Hardware and software sales in the US last month just had the worst November since tracking began.

That’s according to the latest data from market research company Circana, which tracks hardware and physical / digital software sales in the US.

1.6 million units of video game hardware were sold in the US in November 2025, which is the lowest total since 1.4 million back in 1995.

Monthly hardware spending last month was $695 million, which is a 27% drop compared to last year and the lowest hardware spend in a November in the US since 2005.

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

However, this 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, the PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in November, in terms of both unit sales and dollars spent. Nintendo Switch 2 was second in both categories, while the Xbox Series X/S was third in terms of dollars spent, and the NEX Playground was third in terms of units sold.

In terms of physical software, spending fell 14% in November 2025 compared to November 2024, making it an all-time low for a November since tracking started in 1995.

It should be noted that this doesn’t count digital software, which will have taken up the majority of video game sales in the US last month.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was the best-selling game of November, making it the 7th best-selling game of 2025 so far. However, Circana says the Call of Duty series suffered “a double-digit percentage full game dollar sales decline” compared to November last year.

Asked on Bluesky how console manufacturers could possibly lower hardware prices given such factors as tariffs and increased component prices, Circana senior director Mat Piscatella replied: “They likely cannot and will not.”

“And if we see sharp upticks in pricing because of components it could potentially be catastrophic for the dedicated gaming device market,” he added.