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Two records, two different baselines
The month’s headline figures come from Circana’s US tracking, as relayed by The Verge, Video Games Chronicle and GameSpot in December 2025. All figures below cover the United States only and the single month of November. They do not describe global hardware sales or the full year.
Spending: the lowest November since 2005
Hardware spending in November 2025 was $695 million, down 27% from $949 million in November 2024. Spending was lower only in November 2005, when the reported total was $455 million. Circana put it this way, as quoted by The Verge:
“This is the lowest video game hardware spending total for a November month since the $455 million reached during the November 2005 tracking period.”
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The $455 million figure is a nominal dollar amount. The reports do not adjust it for inflation, so it should not be read as a like-for-like purchasing-power comparison with 2025.
| Measure (US, November) | Value | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware spending, 2005 | $455 million | Lowest November before 2025 in the reported series |
| Hardware spending, 2024 | $949 million | Baseline for the year-over-year decline |
| Hardware spending, 2025 | $695 million | Down 27% year over year; lowest November since 2005 |
Units: the lowest November since 1995
US consumers bought 1.6 million video game hardware units in November 2025. That is the lowest November unit total since November 1995, when 1.4 million units sold. Circana’s wording, as quoted by The Verge, was:
“the lowest total for a November month since 1995 (1.4 million).”
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The phrase means 1995 was lower still. Between 1996 and 2024, every November recorded more than 1.6 million units. The reports do not state a November 2024 unit total, so no unit-level year-over-year change can be given here.
| Measure (US, November) | Value | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Units sold, 1995 | 1.4 million | Lowest November before 2025 in the reported series |
| Units sold, 2024 | Not stated in the reports | No unit comparison available |
| Units sold, 2025 | 1.6 million | Lowest November since 1995 |
Why spending and units tell different stories
Spending equals units multiplied by the average price paid. A month can therefore show weak spending with a modest unit drop, a steep unit drop with stable prices, or a combination of both. November 2025 is a case where the spending record is more severe than the unit record in relative terms, which is why the two should be reported separately.
As a check on that relationship, dividing $695 million by 1.6 million units gives about $434 per unit. That is close to the reported $439 average. The small gap is consistent with rounding in the published totals, which are given to two significant figures.
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Average price paid: $439, the highest reported November
The average price paid for a new unit of video game hardware in November 2025 was $439. That was 11% above November 2024 and an all-time November high in the reported series. The November 2019 average was $235, according to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella as reported in The Verge and GameSpot.
| Period (US, November) | Average price paid per new unit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $235 | Mat Piscatella, Circana, via The Verge and GameSpot |
| 2024 | Not stated directly; about $395 if the reported 11% increase is applied to $439 | Derived from the reported change |
| 2025 | $439 | Circana, via The Verge and GameSpot |
What the price figure does and does not show
The higher average price is a real part of the November picture, and it is a plausible factor in weak demand. It is not proof of cause. The reports describe the average price alongside the spending and unit totals, but they do not break the spending decline into price, volume and product-mix effects. Any claim that higher prices caused the drop would go beyond what these reports establish.
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PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in November 2025, measured by both units and dollar sales, according to Video Games Chronicle. That is a ranking for one month. It does not measure long-term market share, and it is not an assessment of the console’s quality. The Verge also noted that PS5 and Xbox Series consoles turned five in November 2025.
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How to use these numbers
- Spending is the dollar total for the month. Compare it only with other Novembers, and only in nominal dollars.
- Units are the number of hardware units sold. Compare them with the 1995 baseline for the historical low, and do not compare them with dollar figures.
- Average price is the reported price paid per new unit. Use the 2019 and 2024 values for context, not as a cause of the spending change.
- Console ranking applies to one month and to the US only.
Limits of the evidence
Each figure here is as reported by the three outlets above, all citing Circana’s tracking. Circana’s own monthly release and methodology notes were not the basis for this article, so product-category definitions, retail-channel coverage and the treatment of any single platform are not described here. The reports also do not explain why the decline happened beyond the price context noted above.
For the underlying reporting, see The Verge’s report on November 2025 hardware sales, Video Games Chronicle’s coverage of the worst November in 30 years, and GameSpot’s report on the worst month in 30 years.
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