On June 25, 2026, Microsoft announced that the Xbox Series S and X consoles would increase in price starting on August 1 due to the ongoing memory and storage component crisis. They shared the US price but did not share European pricing, which consumers only learned about today as it went into effect.

As spotted by ResetEra users , the latest adjustments raise Xbox Series console prices by u p to €200 across Europe and by up to £170 in the United Kingdom . Indeed, the revised European and UK pricing makes for uncomfortable reading. Xbox Series S models, once positioned as the accessible entry point to the Xbox ecosystem, are now approaching (or, in some cases, outright surpassing) the price range traditionally occupied by premium consoles. Meanwhile, Xbox Series X systems are climbing further beyond the original launch price of the more powerful, disc-equipped hardware.

Granted, the new pricing essentially aligns with Microsoft's stated worldwide August 1 increases ( $100 for 512GB systems and $150 for 1TB models), though the European and UK hikes are materially steeper in local currency terms.

Sony also increased the prices of the rival PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro consoles , of course. They're facing the component crisis, too. However, there's a fundamental difference: Sony's consoles actually get sold. This generation is on track to register the second-largest PlayStation/Xbox gap in hardware sales , only behind the generation that saw the launch of the Xbox brand. Sony has shipped over 95 million PS5s so far, and while Microsoft no longer discloses hardware sales, estimates put its current total at around 35 million consoles sold.

This would actually have been a great situation in which Xbox might have exploited the near-endless pockets of its parent company , Microsoft, because many casual gamers are about to go shopping for a console ahead of the upcoming launch of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI . By staving off these price increases, it could have lured in millions of gamers, which it sorely needed.

However, Microsoft is clearly no longer interested in bankrolling the Xbox division. CEO Satya Nadella said in no uncertain terms that, after 25 years of continued investment, Xbox must become sustainable. During this week's earnings call, he demanded that Xbox return to growth in the next fiscal year, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma doubled down with the lofty goal of half a billion daily players by 2030 .

Good luck with these prices.

About the author : With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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