- Xbox reportedly suffered its worst year on record in the UK for console sales in 2025
- That's according to The Game Business journalist Chris Dring
- The comes off the back of egregious price hikes and a general decline in hardware sales
It's grim reading if you're an Xbox fan in the current year, as Microsoft's console division has reportedly just had its worst year on the books - at least in the UK.
That's according to The Game Business and former gamesindustry.biz journalist Chris Dring. Dring took to X / Twitter to state that Xbox console sales "were down 39% in the UK during 2025, making it comfortably the worst year on record for Xbox consoles."
In the same post, Dring seems to remain hopeful that the brand can turn things around. With several Xbox Game Studios titles in the 2026 pipeline including Forza Horizon 6, Fable, and Gears of War E-Day, sale might rise.
Sales of Xbox consoles were down 39% in the UK during 2025, making it comfortably the worst year on record for Xbox consoles. With the return of favourite Xbox franchises in 2026, might things improve this year?January 2, 2026
No matter how you slice it, though, it does seem unlikely that Xbox hardware will make a miraculous recovery anytime soon.
2025 saw Xbox console prices skyrocket. And paired with the thousands of layoffs that happened across Xbox Game Studios, not to mention several high profile project cancellations including the Perfect Dark reboot, it looks like a company that'll need more than a year or two to get its act back together.
It does seem, though, that Microsoft may want to quietly retire the Xbox brand. Or at the very least refocus its priorities. Back in October, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said: "We are making efforts to lower the barrier to entry for people to play our games through services such as Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Game Pass," following the success of titles like Doom: The Dark Ages and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on competing hardware.
The next Xbox console is also likely to be a PC console hybrid, potentially similar to Valve's upcoming Steam Machine.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best gaming consoles
1. Best overall:
PlayStation 5 Slim
2. Best budget:
Xbox Series S
3. Best handheld:
Nintendo Switch 2
4. Most powerful:
PlayStation 5 Pro
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