Microsoft announced yet another price increase for the Xbox Series X and S consoles, starting Aug. 1. This is the third time Microsoft has hiked the price of its Xbox consoles since May 2025, another example of gaming hardware increasing in price due to the ongoing global memory shortage.
Xbox console prices are jumping $100 for the 512GB model and $150 for the 1TB models. Microsoft says it will discontinue the 2TB version of the Xbox Series X. Here’s the new breakdown of prices:
- Series S 512GB: $500
- Series S 1TB: $600
- Series X 1TB digital: $750
- Series X 1TB disc drive: $800
Microsoft’s blog post said the company spent several months working with suppliers, hoping to avoid another price increase. “Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.” It noted that the the components crisis — which was also behind the latest price hike for Apple products — is hitting consoles particularly hard.
That same blog post introduced buy now, pay later and zero-interest financing options, which the company framed as “programs to make XBOX consoles more accessible.”
Microsoft initially raised the price of the Xbox Series X|S back in May 2025, shortly after President Trump instituted new tariffs on products manufactured in other countries. The company raised the prices again last October, likely due to the beginning of the current memory shortage.
Both Nintendo and Sony also re-evaluated the pricing of their respective consoles due to the tariffs and the cost of memory. The PS5 saw its price jump twice: The first came last August, followed by another in March. Nintendo will increase the price of the Switch 2 in September, and it already hiked up the price of the original Switch last August.
New products aren’t immune, either. On Monday, Valve revealed the price of its PC gaming console, the Steam Machine, which starts at $1049. The price tag shocked many gamers, as the company had telegraphed that its new hardware should be similarly priced as other home consoles when it was first revealed last November. Instead, it’s $150 more expensive than the PS5 Pro. Valve also hiked the price of its Steam Deck portable console last month.
For more, check out our best budget laptops and whether iPhones might be next on the price hike list.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
