The Xbox brand suffered a significant setback in 2025, as already relatively modest console sales for Microsoft’s gaming division dwindled further.
In a post by The Game Business’ Editor-in-Chief, Chris Dring, he stated that sales of Xbox consoles in the UK alone were down a whopping 39% in 2025 compared to 2024.
That’s not a great number by any standard, but its significance is clear, as the resulting sales dip marks the worst year on record for Xbox console sales in its 25-year history.
Xbox Decline Part of Wider Business Strategy Shift
The dip probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, given rising hardware prices and the emergence of a new console with Nintendo’s Switch 2. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s attitude to Xbox hardware has seen it distance itself from the ‘console wars’ and even submit its stranglehold on potential exclusive games, with everything from Forza to Flight Simulator appearing on PlayStation in recent years.
The upside of that is better sales for Microsoft’s big hitters on other consoles, as the lion’s share of the PS5’s best sellers in mid-2025 were Microsoft-owned titles such as Forza Horizon, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Doom: The Dark Ages, and, of course, Minecraft.
While Xbox may have suffered in hardware sales, it wasn’t alone, as the high cost of all hardware combined with general cost-of-living struggles made a big dent in the market.
The move to a multi-platform model, with no end in sight for rising costs, will make 2026 unlikely to be an improved year for Xbox console sales.
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