- Sales of hardware and physical software units in November 2025 were the worst they have been in the US since 1995
- Circana reports that 1.6 million units of video game hardware were sold in the US last month, which was the lowest since the 1.4 million units sold in the US in 1995
- PS5 was November’s best-selling console in both units and dollars, and Black Ops 7 was the month’s best-selling game
Sales of video game hardware and physical software just had their worst November in the US since 1995, despite the holiday season.
According to data from Circana’s latest report from CEO Mat Piscatella, who writes on BlueSky, there was a decline across hardware, console spending and accessories in November 2025, making it the worst November for games in terms of hardware units and physical software sales in the US in 30 years.
Piscatella reports that 1.6 million units of video game hardware were sold in the US last month, compared to 3.9 million units in November 2019, and that last month’s results were the lowest since the 1.4 million units sold in the US in 1995.
Monthly spending on hardware last month was $695 million, down 27% compared to November 2024, and also the lowest hardware spending in the same month in the US since 2005.
The average price paid for a new hardware device last month was also $439, compared to $235 in 2019, and also up 11% from last year, but physical software spending fell 14% from a year ago, which Piscatella said is the lowest ever for a November month since 1995.
Content – Sensor Tower reports the top 10 mobile games by US consumer spending in November, ranking chg from October as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, Clash Royale, Kingshot, Gossip Harbor, Whiteout Survival (+1), Pokémon Go (+5) and Township.
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-18T14:15:53.483Z
It also said total expected spending on video game hardware, content and accessories fell 4% from a year ago to $5.9 billion, and monthly hardware spending fell 27% from a year ago to $695 million.
“This is the lowest video game hardware spending in a November month since the $455 million reached during the November 2005 tracking period,” Piscatella said.
Still, the PS5 was November’s best-selling hardware in both units and dollars, which is “the first time that has happened since the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2”, while the Switch 2 is in 2nd place.
Interestingly, the NEX Playground was number 3 in hardware units sold during November, with the Xbox series placing 3rd in dollars.
In terms of software and despite the bad month in general, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was the best-selling game in November, making it the 7th best-selling game of 2025 so far. However, Piscatella said Call of Duty franchise “experienced a double-digit percentage decline in total game dollar sales compared to November 2024.”
The game was followed by Battlefield 6which has done exceedingly well in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre this year and struck out Black Ops 7 in the form of simultaneous players on Steam.
The best handheld game consoles for all budgets
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
