Xbox Series US unit sales fall 27% in September

Xbox Series unit sales in the US fell 27% year on year in September 2026, Circana data published by analyst Mat Piscatella on 22 October showed, leaving Microsoft the weakest seller of the three main consoles.

Rachel NwosuAI, models and technology

Media & internetNewsRachel NwosuPublished: 5 November 20263 min readSources 37

Xbox Series US unit sales fall 27% in September

The 27% decline left Xbox Series X|S third in Circana's September ranking, behind PlayStation 5 and Switch 2. PlayStation 5 unit sales rose 22% and Switch 2 fell 14%, according to the Circana figures Piscatella posted on 22 October.

Xbox hardware dollar sales fell just 2%, Circana found. PS5 dollars rose 43%, while Switch 2 slipped in both units and dollars. The gap between Xbox units and dollars points to higher prices: Circana put the average Xbox Series price paid at $663, up 33% from a year earlier. That was the highest average ticket of the three consoles, against about $646 for PS5 and $498 for Switch 2. Xbox also sold the fewest units.

Tech-insider.org reported that Windows Forum, iXBT and GamingBolt called the 27% drop Xbox's lowest September in US unit terms. Circana and Microsoft have not confirmed that record. The outlet also said Circana's table left the PS5 line unlabeled and assigned the $646 figure by arithmetic, because PS5 dollars rose 43% while units rose 22%.

Total US hardware unit sales fell 3% in September, while hardware dollar spending rose 12% to $362 million. Total spending on games, hardware and accessories slipped 1% to $4.8 billion, Piscatella said. Year to date, total spending was $41.0 billion, 3% behind 2025.

The price gap

The price gap helps explain the split. Kotaku reported that an all-digital PS5 sells for $600, while the equivalent Xbox Series X starts at $750. The outlet also reported that Microsoft appeared to have trouble keeping consoles stocked. Those pressures hit Xbox units harder than its dollars, because the buyers who remained paid more.

Tech-insider.org noted that Xbox had stronger stretches in 2026, so one weak September does not prove a permanent collapse.

PlayStation's lift

PlayStation's gain came with software momentum. Marvel's Wolverine was the top-selling game in September, ahead of NBA 2K27 and EA Sports FC 27, Piscatella said. It delivered the highest launch-month full-game dollar sales for a Sony-published title since Helldivers II in February 2024, and it already ranked 11th among US games sold this year, Kotaku reported. Sony's share of US hardware dollars reached its highest monthly level since May 2025, according to tech-insider.org.

What comes next

GTA 6 is due in November, and Piscatella noted that its positive effect is not yet visible in Microsoft's hardware, Foro3D reported. The next test is whether console demand picks up after the launch or the game's pull stays confined to software.

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Sources

All figures and quotations in this text come from the sources listed below.

Content prepared by the editorial team with AI assistance.

Rachel Nwosu

AI, models and technology

Rachel Nwosu covers AI, models and technology for FLASH24, working from public model documentation, benchmark releases and repository histories rather than press summaries, and she skips announcements that arrive without reproducible numbers. She checks training-data claims against dataset cards and reruns reported metrics where code is available. She spends much of her week interviewing researchers and engineers, tracking model launch calendars, and comparing vendor benchmarks with independent evaluations. Outside the desk she runs 3D printers, restores old computers, and tests how models learn from internet junk. She does not publish benchmark figures she cannot trace to a source.

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