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If Microsoft gutting its Xbox division, laying off staff, and struggling to give its console a real unique selling point hasn’t quite put you off the brand, you will now have to pay hundreds more for its devices if you live in Europe.
As originally spotted over in a Resetera thread, the prices of Xbox Series S and Series X have just gone up (the change is reflected on the Microsoft Germany website too). The new changes are as follows:
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Europe | UK |
|---|---|---|
512GB Xbox Series S | €499.99 (was €349.99) | £429.99 (was £299.99) |
1TB Xbox Series S | €599.99 (was €399.99) | £519.99 (was £349.99) |
1TB Xbox Series X Digital | €749.99 (was €549.99) | £619.99 (was £449.99) |
1TB Xbox Series X Disc | €799.99 (was €599.99) | £669.99 (was £499.99) |
This means the 1 TB model of the Xbox Series S now costs more than the 1 TB Xbox Series X console. As well as this, in June, Microsoft started sunsetting the 2 TB model, citing component costs. And Xbox hardware is seemingly already struggling to sell. As revealed on the latest earnings call, Xbox hardware revenue decreased by a whopping 29% “driven by lower volume of consoles sold.”
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As pointed out by VGC, Microsoft did previously confirm price hikes, but only in the US. With increases of $100-$150 across the board, Europe actually appears to have been hit worse by the changes. The 512 GB Xbox Series S got a $100 rise in the US, but a £130 (around $175) increase in the UK
Even though higher-priced hardware is bad for pretty much everyone in the gaming industry, there is some schadenfreude to be felt here. That’s because console pricing is only so bad because of the memory crisis, and AI growth has led to that memory crisis. In turn, Microsoft has put a lot of money into AI, so as our Tyler puts it, “Microsoft doesn’t know what to do about the memory pricing crisis Microsoft is causing.”
Unfortunately, all signs suggest the memory crisis isn’t ending soon. Samsung, one of the big three memory manufacturers, has warned of a ‘severe’ memory supply crisis next year, and it will likely take some time for supply to catch up with demand.
With the next generation of consoles still expected to launch at the end of 2027, or perhaps into 2028, it seems likely that whatever Sony and Microsoft do next will be hit by the same memory pricing and supply issues.
Both companies will likely take some losses on consoles to make it back in software, but even a small loss is unlikely to make a big dent in the astronomical prices of memory for the foreseeable future.
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