Rafomac News, Tech & Trends That MatterXbox has stunned gamers by hiking the prices of its Series X and S consoles by a significant margin in Europe and the US. The cost of the flagship models has jumped up to 48%, pushing prices beyond what many expected for this generation.
Steep Price Jumps Leave Xbox Fans Reeling
Microsoft’s decision to raise the prices of its Xbox Series X and S consoles is hitting gamers hard, especially across Europe. The 512 GB Xbox Series S has surged from £300 to £430 in the UK—a dramatic £130 leap. More noticeably, the 1 TB Series S now costs £520, up from £350, marking a staggering £170 increase.
Even pricier are the Series X models. The digital 1 TB version climbed £170 from £450 to £620, but the disc edition took the biggest hit—jumping £220 to £670, which amounts to a 48% increase in price. Across the Atlantic, the 1 TB Xbox Series S now retails at $500, which ironically was the launch price of the Series X back in 2020. Meanwhile, the Series X with a disc drive costs $800, which surpasses the current price of a PlayStation 5 disc model by $150.
Why Are Prices Surging So Dramatically?
The rationale behind these hikes lies partly with Microsoft’s strategic investments. The company is funneling tens of billions into sprawling AI data centers. This surge in demand for memory has contributed to a RAM shortage, which in turn is pushing up manufacturing costs, including for Xbox consoles.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma acknowledged earlier this year that rising costs might force the gaming industry to rethink its business models completely. She pointed out that the escalating expenses could make it increasingly difficult for mass audiences to afford new console generations priced in the thousands.
Series X 2 TB Model Gets Cut; Nintendo and Spider-Man News Follow
Microsoft is discontinuing the 2 TB Xbox Series X model, likely because pricing it competitively has become impossible given current production expenses. Meanwhile, Nintendo fans have something to look forward to: a Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave-focused Nintendo Direct is scheduled to air soon, promising 20 minutes of fresh details on this highly anticipated Switch 2 exclusive RPG launching on September 17.
And speaking of records, Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day smashed the domestic opening weekend box office record, earning $360 million and outperforming Avengers: Endgame. It is on track to cross the $2 billion mark globally, a rare feat achieved by only a handful of movies.
