Even though Nintendo celebrated one sales success after another with the Switch 2 last year, the outlook for video games as a phenomenon remains bleak. Despite the fast-selling hybrid device, GamesIndustry.biz now reports that a study from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan indicates console sales in 2026 are expected to drop 19.5% to a total of 33.9 million units.
A major problem is the high console prices, as well as the fact that both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X are fairly outdated hardware by now. S&P analysts also criticise the overall strategies and the lack of games (a problem that even extends to the Switch 2, where new titles in Nintendo's biggest franchises are noticeably absent).
The hope is that chip prices will begin to fall in 2028 so that Microsoft and Sony can launch the PlayStation 6 and Project Helix at reasonably affordable prices, but as things stand, it's believed that not even the console-exclusive Grand Theft Auto VI will be able to prevent a massive drop in sales.