Microsoft has just increased prices for the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in Europe which sees a sharp spike of 33% from their earlier prices, leaving many players of the platform in shock. Although Microsoft had previously confirmed about the price increase back in June, blaming the ongoing “component crisis”, and now they’re finally here, resulting in drastic rise of costs for buying all available models of Xbox.
The confirmed price point for the XBOX Series S is now a whopping €599.99, up from it’s previous price of €399.99 while the more powerful Series X console is now available for an outrageous €799.99, from it’s earlier, more reasonable €599.99. And in the United Kingdom, the Xbox Series S is going to cost £429.99 while the Series X will set you back by £669.99.
While the recent hikes are due to the current memory and storage shortages which led prices for many components absolutely skyrocket across the industry, the new spikes in prices are also alarming for the entire gaming industry cause they’re fundamentally changing the perception of the medium, in more ways than one. With soaring prices for the consoles, gaming could be considered in the luxury category of entertainment rather than what it should be, which is something that’s far more affordable and accessible for the larger demographic.
The recent price rises of Xbox are being harshly criticized on the ResetEra forum, with multiple users pointing out that these can seriously hurt the brand in the long term, as in this far in their life-cycles, the current-gen Xbox systems simply don’t justify the enormous prices, in absolutely no shape or form. One user slammed the new pricing as the ‘Final nail in the coffin’ while another stating: ‘There is no way in 2026 I would be paying nearly £700 for a Series X with a disk drive.’
