Xbox Reveals Price Increases For UK and Europe

Gaming fans across Europe and the UK are reacting with shock as Microsoft officially rolls out its latest round of Xbox Series X/S price increases, pushing some models up by nearly 50% compared to their launch prices.

While Microsoft warned gamers in June that price hikes were coming on August 1st due to global supply chain pressures, it initially kept exact regional pricing under wraps outside the United States. Now that the changes have gone live, players in the UK and mainland Europe are discovering that their price jumps are significantly higher than the $100 to $150 increases applied in the US.

Breakdown of the New Price Tag

The newest prices mark Microsoft's third round of console price increases since May 2025. Across the board, models have seen major price increase:

• Xbox Series S (512GB): Jumps to £429.99 (was £299.99) in the UK and €499.99 (was €349.99) in Europe, which is an increase of over 43%. In the US, it is now $499.99 (was $399.99).
• Xbox Series S (1TB): Rises to £519.99 (was £349.99) in the UK and €599.99 (was €399.99) in Europe. The US price has been adjusted to $599.99 (was $449.99).
• Xbox Series X (1TB Digital): Increases to £619.99 (was £449.99) in the UK and €749.99 (was €549.99) in Europe. The US price is now $749.99 (was $599.99).
• Xbox Series X (1TB Disc): Takes the biggest leap, climbing to £669.99 (was £499.99) in the UK, which is a massive 48% jump, and €799.99 (was €599.99) in Europe. In the US, the model is now $799.99 (was $649.99).

Following this latest increase in pricing, the top-tier Xbox Series X disc model now costs $300 more than its original price of $499.99 when it launched in 2020. Meanwhile, Microsoft is completely retiring the 2TB model as component costs make high-capacity manufacturing unfeasible.

Microsoft explained that the radical pricing changes stem directly from spiraling manufacturing expenses. The artificial intelligence boom has squeezed global supply chains, driving up competition and costs for essential memory and storage chips.

"We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options," Xbox stated in June. 

"Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make."

The hardware crunch is affecting the entire gaming landscape. Sony raised PlayStation 5 prices in April, bumping the Digital Edition to $599.99 / £519.99 / €599.99 and the PS5 Pro to $899.99 / £789.99 / €899.99 due to "continued pressures in the global economic landscape." Nintendo has similarly admitted that it will raise prices on the Switch 2, while Valve has struggled with pricing for its Steam Machine, landing at an eye-watering $1,049.

Earlier this year, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma warned that expensive hardware could fundamentally alter how platforms operate, saying that the spiralling costs of new and existing consoles would require "radically different business models" as it becomes "hard to imagine" mainstream audiences dropping "thousands of dollars" on upcoming hardware generations.

With massive titles like GTA 6 arriving in November, hardware demand is expected to spike. However, rising component costs and inventory constraints leave doubts over whether manufacturers can supply enough affordable consoles to meet player demand.