As cost of living continues to increase, consumers in the United States (US) continue to spend less and less on video game hardware. According to the latest data from Circana, video game hardware sales fell 25% year-over-year in March 2025. It’s the second-straight month that that hardware sales fell by 25% and the third straight month of falling numbers to start the year.
Per the data, video game hardware sales fell from $382 million(M) to $286M year-over-year. The drop off was the lowest March hardware spending total in the country since 2019 had just $279 spent. This also brings the 2025 year-to-date spending down 7% year-over-year.
Looking at specific console sales, PlayStation 5 fell 26% in March in terms of dollar sales against the year average. That said, it remained the top console in the country in both units sold and dollar sales.
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Xbox came in second in both categories, but still has fallen 9% year-over-year. Lastly, the Nintendo Switch dropped 37% year-over-year. However, with the Nintendo Switch 2 coming in just over a month from now, it’s expected that Nintendo will see it’s numbers rise despite the high cost of the console.
As far as the types of consoles being sold, digital-only consoles have made up 75% of the Xbox Series systems sold and 50% of all PlayStation 5 consoles.
Accessories See A Drop
Moving on from general video game hardware sales, accessories also saw a double-digit drop in March. According to Circana, sales on accessories fell 11% year-over-year and have dropped 16% in year-to-date spending compared to 2024.
A big reason for the fall was headset sales falling 19% in March 2025. Regarding what sold, the PS5 Dual Sense Midnight Black controller was the top-selling accessory while the black PS5 Portal was the fourth-best-selling accessory. Previously, it had remained at the top of the chart.
What do you make of the continued drop in video game hardware sales in the US? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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