Microsoft is preparing another price increase for the Xbox Series X/S according to an insider, due to the rising costs of components.
Despite launching over five years ago, the Xbox Series X/S has never been more expensive than it is today.
Microsoft’s console originally launched at £449 for the Xbox Series X and £249 for the Xbox Series S in November 2020, but despite being a massive sales flop, both console variants have risen in price in the UK by £50. If you’re in the US, the increases are even worse, with the Xbox Series X going up by $150 overall.
These hikes aren’t exclusive to Microsoft consoles, with Sony’s PlayStation 5 being similarly impacted by US tariffs, but the Xbox Series X/S might be subject to another price jump soon, due to the rising costs of components.
This all stems from an agreement by Samsung and supplier SK Hynix, who recently signed a deal to supply around 40% of the world’s DRAM (dynamic random access memory) output to the US artificial intelligence company OpenAI for its Stargate data centres.
This deal has reportedly led to a scramble for DRAM among other companies, resulting in rising costs and shortages. According to a report on Chinese outlet Ctee, DRAM prices have shot up 171% year-on-year.
While several companies are expected to be affected by these increases, according to YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead, Microsoft’s Xbox is going to suffer more than most.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Speaking about Xbox, Moore’s Law Is Dead said: ‘They didn’t plan ahead at all, apparently. If you still want an Xbox, for some reason, at their current pricing, those prices could go up soon, or supply could just entirely dry up.’
He goes onto claim that several of his sources have been warned by sales reps at Microsoft that ‘this is going to affect the Xbox Series consoles very, very soon, sooner rather than later’.
While it’s important to take this with a pinch of salt, if you’re looking to buy an Xbox Series X/S, you might be better off grabbing one in the Black Friday sales, in case this does come true.
Moore’s Law Is Dead named several other companies which could be affected by the DRAM shortage, like Radeon and Nvidia, but according to the YouTuber’s sources, Sony will not be as badly impacted.
‘From what I’ve heard, Sony planned ahead, bought up gobs of RAM near the bottom of the pricing, and thus they should be fine for months,’ he said. ‘They have plenty of GDDR6. At least, that’s what I’m told.’
He goes onto state prices for the PlayStation 5 could ‘go up eventually’, citing next year as a possibility, but there’s no immediate cause for concern.
While this looks set to affect the price of current gen consoles in some fashion, it’s unclear if this could negatively ricochet onto the prices of Sony and Microsoft’s next gen hardware too, which are expected to come out in 2027.
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were both marred by a slow transition from the previous generation, so if the next gen consoles are priced astronomically, with very little in the way of visible improvements, the PlayStation 6 could have an even bigger uphill battle.
It’s also possible that both companies could simply choose to delay the new consoles, which have not been officially unveiled, by a year or so, in an attempt to ride out the current problems.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
