Black Friday 2025: PS5 Ate Everyone's Lunch, And A Toddler's Cube Just Beat Xbox

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Written By NLM Team

If you were wondering who "won" Black Friday, stop asking because it wasn't a contest. It was a public execution.

Sony didn't simply lead the pack. They annihilated it. According to new data from Circana (US) and The Game Business (UK), the PlayStation 5 completely dominated the holiday shopping window.

But the real story isn't Sony's victory. The real story is the absolute collapse of the old hierarchy. The Nintendo Switch 2 is struggling to find its footing. Xbox has officially been dethroned by a motion-control cube made for five-year-olds.

The US Massacre

Mat Piscatella from Circana dropped the US hardware numbers for the week ending November 29. They are wild.

The PS5 took 47% of all hardware unit sales. That is nearly half the market. For a console in the middle of its lifecycle, that is absurd dominance.

The Nintendo Switch 2 came in second with 24%. Honestly? That is scary low. This is the console's first holiday season. It should be flying off shelves. Instead, it is being outsold 2-to-1 by a machine from 2020. Whether that is a supply issue or a hype issue remains to be seen.

And then there is third place.

With 14% of the market, the #3 spot didn't go to the Xbox Series X. It went to the NEX Playground.

What The Hell Is A 'NEX Playground'?

If you don't have kids, you are probably confused. The NEX Playground is a small, 3-inch cube that hooks up to your TV and uses an AI camera for motion controls. It is basically the spiritual successor to the Xbox Kinect.

It plays Peppa Pig, Fruit Ninja, and Bluey. It costs about $200.

And it just beat Microsoft.

Let that sink in. Master Chief just got out-sold by Bluey. Xbox isn't even in the "Big 3" anymore in the US. They are in fourth place behind a toy.

The UK Bloodbath

Across the pond, things are even grimmer for the competition.

According to The Game Business, the PS5 accounted for 62% of all console sales in the UK during Black Friday week. The PS5 Pro reportedly had its best week since launch. People really will pay $700 for slightly better reflections.

The Switch 2 held 23%. This mirrors its US performance almost exactly.

And Xbox? 10%.

That is a single digit away from irrelevance. In the UK, Xbox isn't competing with PlayStation anymore. They are barely competing with the Atari VCS.

Black Ops 7 Finally Flops (Good)

On the software side, Europe is still living in the past. Hogwarts Legacy and EA Sports FC 26 topped the charts.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 slipped to number 3.

Finally. After years of shovelware campaigns, recycled multiplayer maps, and aggressive monetization, people are waking up. It deserves to fail. It is a bloated, broken mess of a shooter. Seeing it lose to a Harry Potter game from two years ago brings a tear to my eye. Maybe Activision will finally fix their game if they stop printing infinite money for five minutes.

The Verdict

The "Console War" is over. Sony won.

The real battle now is for second place. Right now, Nintendo is fighting a motion-control cube for the privilege. Xbox needs a miracle, or they need to start making their own Peppa Pig games.

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NLM Team
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