Long gone are the days of the “console wars,” often referred to when the Super Nintendo and PlayStation reigned supreme, but there have been clear losers and winners when it comes to current console sales.
CNBC reports Microsoft’s Xbox has long been losing steam as far as console sales go, as it moves toward an open system that would allow players to move to and from console, PC and cloud gaming seamlessly.
But even Halo’s Master Chief may have given up after all the problems Xbox has faced lately.
In September, Microsoft announced it would increase the price of its Ultimate tier of Games Pass from $19.99 to $29.99.
As the console developer moved toward a digital-forward console, offering a disc-based and digital console, Games Pass had become a cornerstone of its business. It gives gamers a subscription service where they can download games from a library, often newly released titles.
Yet fans reacted negatively to the price hike.
CNBC reports that the company’s gaming revenue decreased 2% year-over-year, coupled with a 29% drop in hardware sales. This is all from Microsoft’s first-quarter earnings report for fiscal 2026.
Console sales overall are down 27% year–over-year in November, as reported by Circana.
While Switch and Switch 2 sales were down over 10% in November, and PlayStation 5 down over 40%, the Xbox Series hardware plummeted by 70%.
