US consoles post their worst August since 2013 as average price hits a record, weeks before GTA 6

In August 2026, Americans bought about 559,000 consoles. That is 15% fewer than a year earlier and the worst August since 2013, when the market sold 423,000 units. Even so, the money that reached the registers fell only 3%, to $302 million. The arithmetic works for one reason: each console cost more. The average price paid for a new device reached $541, a record for an August (the previous one, in 2025, was $476). The numbers are Circana's, released on October 8, and cover the United States only — but the message applies to anyone planning to play GTA 6 on November 19.

Who sold what

According to VGChartz, the Switch 2 was the month's best seller in both units and dollars, and also leads the year to date, with the PS5 second. The change by platform, against last August:

The PS5 is the most telling case: fewer units sold, more revenue earned, which only happens when the price goes up. Xbox Series and Switch 2 together lost 13% in revenue. Year to date through August, hardware spending totals $2.54 billion, 11% below the same period in 2025. Total games spending (content, hardware and accessories) was $4.26 billion for the month, down 9%; according to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, the main driver of the drop was mobile, which fell 18%, while PC content rose 13%.

Piscatella warned in May

None of this caught the analyst by surprise. In May, in an interview with The Game Business, Piscatella said he expected many casual buyers to get a price shock when GTA 6 arrived, and projected a $1,000 console at launch — with the caveat that this assumes further price rises. He argues the console market has shifted toward wealthier households: well over half of hardware buyers live in homes earning $100,000 a year or more, and the average price, around $250 in 2019, could pass $500 within a few years. August's figure ($541) has already crossed that line.

The same conversation includes a data point that helps gauge how much a big release weighs: the week the PS5 price increase was announced, the console had its biggest week of 2026 — and then its two worst. Piscatella reads that as pulled-forward demand, people rushing to buy before the hike.

What changes for Brazilian players

Circana's numbers are American, and none of the sources we read gives a Brazilian breakdown; what we can do is look at our own price. According to Olhar Digital, the PS5 got more expensive in Brazil on April 2, 2026, with these Sony-suggested prices:

• PS5 with disc drive: from R$ 4,499.90 to R$ 5,099.90
• PS5 Digital Edition: from R$ 3,999.90 to R$ 4,599.90
• PS5 Pro: from R$ 6,999.90 to R$ 7,499.90

Sony justified the increase, in the words of vice president Isabelle Tomatis, with "continued pressures in the global economic landscape". Doing the maths ourselves (these are suggested prices, retailers may charge differently, and they may have changed since April): the Standard edition of GTA 6 we covered in Standard vs Ultimate, at R$ 449.90, added to the suggested PS5 Digital comes to about R$ 5,050; with the disc PS5, about R$ 5,550. It is a back-of-the-envelope estimate, not an official bundle price — we have seen no retailer announce a bundle.

And Take-Two?

The thesis Take-Two has long defended is that a title this size sells hardware. TechRadar carries the headline that the company's boss believes the launch could mean a rise in PS5 and Xbox Series X sales; the page didn't open for us beyond the title, so we could not check the exact quote or date and we don't cite it. What August's numbers suggest, in our reading, is that the thesis hasn't shown up at retail yet: there is no sign of a rush for consoles before November, and the high price will likely push some interested buyers to wait for Black Friday deals, which land a little over a week after the game's release.

What we still don't know

In the sources we read there is no September or October data — Circana's September report should come out next month — and we found no unit projection for year-end. We also did not confirm, from an open page, separate average prices for PlayStation and Xbox: they appeared in search summaries, but the source wouldn't open, so they stay out. Anyone planning to buy a console for launch should watch local retail prices; April's increase already showed that the price can change without notice.