PlayStation Console Sales Fell to Their Lowest May Total in 26 Years Following PS5 Price Rise

May was a catastrophic period for PlayStation and Xbox income successful the U.S., driven by terms rises that person intelligibly had a important interaction connected user involvement successful buying a caller console.

Sony raised the terms of PS5 consoles successful April, bringing the outgo of a modular PS5 to $649.99, the PS5 Digital Edition to $599.99, and the PS5 Pro to $899.99. Those terms rises look to person dented PS5 income successful the U.S. successful May, when, according to caller Circana data, PS5 spending fell 43% year-on-year, and portion income plummeted 58%.

Xbox didn’t bash overmuch better. Surprisingly, Xbox Series hardware spending really grew 7% versus a twelvemonth ago, but portion income fell by 12%. That’s the effect of Xbox Series costing much successful May versus the erstwhile May (Microsoft accrued the Xbox console terms by $20-$70 successful the U.S. past October).

Mat Piscatella, Senior Director, Video Games astatine Circana said PlayStation hardware portion income fell to their lowest May full since May 2000, which seems beauteous unspeakable for Sony. Meanwhile, Xbox hardware portion income were the lowest ever recorded for a May month. Bad each round.

Hammering location the constituent that getting into console gaming has go much expensive, Circana said the mean terms paid for a caller portion of video crippled hardware reached $502 successful May, up 14% compared to a twelvemonth agone ($440). May 2026 PS5 mean pricing accrued by 33% versus a twelvemonth agone to $672, with Xbox Series up 22%, to $524. Traditionally, consoles get cheaper implicit the people of a generation, not much expensive.

Microsoft announced different Xbox Series terms emergence this week, though it doesn’t travel into effect until August. I can’t ideate those September Xbox income are going to beryllium peculiarly healthy, if what's happened successful May is thing to spell by.

The terms rises are the nonstop effect of the "RAMpocalypse," which is an ongoing planetary representation shortage and terms situation driven by semiconductor manufacturers reallocating their DRAM and NAND accumulation capableness to high-margin hardware for AI information centers.

“Last October, we accrued Xbox console terms by $20-$70 successful the U.S.” Microsoft said erstwhile it announced Xbox terms rises this week. “We hoped different terms summation would not beryllium necessary, and we person spent the past respective months moving with suppliers connected options. Unfortunately, console retention and representation prices person accrued by much than 2.5x and we expect different doubling by the autumn of 2027.

"The full user electronics manufacture is struggling with the existent components crisis, but the effects are peculiarly hard connected consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and different user devices, consoles are typically not sold astatine a profit, but alternatively for little than they outgo to make.”

When Sony hiked the terms of PS5, it blamed it connected “continued pressures successful the planetary economical landscape.” It’s a akin communicative for beauteous overmuch each hardware shaper around. Just look astatine Valve’s Steam Machine.

When volition this console terms symptom end? No clip soon, reports indicate. Microsoft expects different doubling of console retention and representation prices by the autumn of 2027. Fingers crossed for 2028, then!

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].