And they were doing so well, too! This must be part of that brand revitalization Xbox — oh, sorry, XBOX — has been bragging about since getting a new CEO. Stop me if you've heard this one before: the rising cost of components, propelled by the completely pointless AI boom, is forcing consumer hardware manufacturers to up their prices. Hundredth verse, same as the first.
While the big three (and even PC gaming giant Valve) have all done this recently, it feels like Xbox has been turning the dial more often than most. It's also wonderfully hypocritical, given that Microsoft themselves are in large part responsible for the endless (and expensive) AI chase, meaning they get no sympathy from me for dealing with the "difficult market conditions" they've created.
We've been able to depend on a price hike from Microsoft's second favorite money pit every few months or so, and new CEO Asha Sharma isn't letting us down. Any more than she already has, at least.
The news was broken, as ever, in a Microsoft blog post:
Effective August 1, 2026, we will be updating prices worldwide. The price of XBOX consoles will increase by US$100 for 512 GB models and US$150 for 1 TB models. We will also be sunsetting our 2 TB model.
They then went on to share ways they're "helping" players afford their newly jacked-up hardware, including taking out a loan so you can eventually have the Xbox mob repossess your console and break your legs.
Assuming you get the 1TB model because you want to be able to fit more than two games on the thing: the Xbox Series S will be going from 450 to 600 dollars, firmly taking it out of the "budget option" price bracket. The Series X, on the other hand, will be going from 650 to 800 dollars, and still boasts no exclusives good enough to make that even remotely worth it.
Previously:
