- According to an analyst’s estimates, Xbox Series X|S sales stagnated after March 2025.
- The console has sold 37 million units so far, according to Take-Two, the same figure reported last year.
- Xbox Series X|S might not reach the 40 million mark in 2026, as current predictions put its annual sales at 2.5 million units.
This console generation has been one to forget for Xbox and Microsoft. From the highly criticised multiplatform strategy to multiple Xbox Series price hikes, the gaming giant has fallen further behind PlayStation in the last few years.
The appointment of Asha Sharma and the return of exclusives did bring some positivity to Xbox, even leading to a small surge in hardware sales. However, the brand is still years away from rebounding, and recent estimates suggest console sales have actually stagnated.
Why it matters: Considering how the company is selling Xbox Series X|S consoles at a loss despite the price hikes, Xbox hardware is acting like a thorn in the gaming giant’s side.
According to estimates from Install Base Analyst John Welfare, Xbox Series X|S unit sales have stagnated at 37 million since March 2025. As deduced from the recent Take-Two report, the combined install base of current-gen consoles is 129 million worldwide, and PS5 accounts for at least 92 million units.
Hence, the cumulative number of Xbox Series X|S consoles sold worldwide is 37 million, the same figure estimated by the analyst in March 2025. Best-case scenario, the current-gen hardware has sold 500k more units since March 2025, which isn’t anything to celebrate for a company as big as Microsoft.
Previous reports also back up this statement, with an analyst in January 2026 revealing that Xbox Series X|S sold half of its lifetime units in the first 18 months, slowing down exponentially afterwards. Industry experts predict that the console will sell around 2.5 million units in 2026, but even that might not be enough to reach the 40 million mark.
With the next-gen Xbox Helix also expected to launch with just 2 million sales worldwide thanks to its reported price tag of $1,200, the revival of Xbox in the console market isn’t coming anytime soon.
Do you think Xbox can return to form and compete with Sony with the release of Project Helix? Should the company exit the console market after the next generation? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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