Xbox Console Prices Have Gone Up Across the Board

In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft attributed the increase to rising component costs, saying console storage and memory prices have climbed more than 2.5x since its last price adjustment, with a further doubling expected by fall 2027. This marks the third Xbox price increase since May 2025; Microsoft had previously raised prices by $20 to $70 in the US last October.

The disc-based Xbox Series X, one of the models affected by the $150 increase, now retails at $799.99 in the US. Microsoft has not announced a corresponding Xbox Game Pass price increase alongside the hardware changes. Regional and UAE pricing has not been separately confirmed by Microsoft.

The full US pricing breakdown, confirmed across multiple outlets citing the same Xbox Wire post, now reads: Xbox Series S 512GB (digital) at $499.99, Xbox Series S 1TB at $599.99, Xbox Series X 512GB (digital) at $749.99, and Xbox Series X 1TB (disc) at $799.99. That puts the Series X disc model just $100 below Sony’s PS5 Pro, and the Series S, long marketed as Xbox’s budget entry point, now costs the same as the original Xbox Series X did at launch in November 2020.

UK pricing has moved in step: the 512GB Series S has gone from £299.99 to £429.99, according to Xbox’s own regional pricing pages. Taken together with the two prior increases, Microsoft has now raised Xbox hardware prices three times since May 2025, pushing the Series X from its original $499.99 launch price to $799.99, a 60% increase in under six years with no price cut at any point along the way.

The price change also lands during a period of broader change at Xbox: Asha Sharma took over as the head of Xbox earlier this year, succeeding longtime chief Phil Spencer, and the increase follows a round of layoffs within the division. Microsoft has not indicated whether further price adjustments are planned before the next expected doubling in component costs by fall 2027, and has not said whether current-generation consoles will see additional changes once that happens.

For UAE shoppers, Microsoft has not published updated regional pricing separately from the US figures above; historically, Xbox hardware in the UAE has tracked close to US pricing converted at prevailing exchange rates plus local VAT, though official AED pricing should be confirmed directly with regional retailers once available.

Microsoft’s own explanation points to a structural reason consoles are being hit harder than other electronics categories: unlike phones, laptops, or speakers, consoles are typically sold at or below their manufacturing cost, with hardware losses offset over time by game and subscription sales. That model leaves little room to absorb a sudden jump in component costs without passing it on to buyers, which is why the current storage and memory shortage is landing so directly on console pricing specifically.

Xbox isn’t alone in raising prices this generation. Sony has increased PS5 pricing multiple times as well, with the PS5 Slim now sitting at $549.99 in the US, and Nintendo priced the Switch 2 at $499.99 at launch, above what many had expected going in. Across the industry, the same component pressures Microsoft cited appear to be pushing console pricing upward at a pace not seen in previous console generations, where prices typically fell over time rather than climbing.

For buyers currently weighing an Xbox purchase, the practical takeaway is straightforward: any console bought at retail before local pricing catches up to the new US and UK figures will reflect the old price, but Microsoft has given no indication of when, or whether, regional storefronts outside the confirmed markets will formally update.

Source: Xbox Wire