Is console gaming dead? Xbox's savage price hike is latest scandal to rock this generation

Xbox Series X/S covered in money symbols — (Image credit: Xbox)

Quick Summary

Xbox's price rises have finally come into affect and they are more savage than many expected.

Xbox consoles in the UK and Europe have risen by 30% since they originally launched.

It is no exaggeration to suggest something's gone wrong with gaming. At least when it comes to consoles.

The ongoing RAM crisis has proved disastrous for the industry as a whole and console gaming more specifically. Not only have Valve's ambitious Steam Machine plans been wrecked by rising component costs, but now the full impact of Xbox's price rises are known – and they're not pretty. Especially for those in the UK and Europe.

After originally announcing the new US prices, which came into affect on Saturday 1 August, it seems Brit's are faced with even heavier hikes. The same with buyers in the EU.

The new Xbox Series X and Series S prices (as of 1 August 2026)

Xbox Series S (512GB): £429.99 / €499.99 / $499.99
Xbox Series S (1TB): £519.99 / €599.99 / $599.99
Xbox Series X (1TB, disc-free): £619.99 / €749.99 / $749.99
Xbox Series X (1TB, disc): £669.99 / €799.99 / $799.99

Where does this leave console gaming?

Of course, Xbox isn't the only console maker to inflate its prices in the face of RAMageddon. Sony also heavily increased its PS5 prices earlier this year, with the standard PS5 costing today £569.99 / €649.99 / $649.99.

A PS5 Pro will set you back £789.99 / €899.99 / $899.99.

While Valve's all-new Steam Machine starts at £879 / €1,039 / $1,049 – and that's without a controller.

Let's not even get into how much Project Helix or the PS6 might cost, if the components market doesn't settle down again.

Then there's Sony's decision to ditch discs from the start of 2028 – with Xbox likely to follow suit. That has resulted in a big backlash from console gamers. And staff across some of the best and biggest game studios have either already lost or face losing their jobs this year. It's a mess.

It all leaves the console scene in a very perilous place. While PC gamers have hardly been unaffected over the last few months, especially when it comes to upgrading their systems.

It's hard to see where we can go from here. Although it can be argued that, with more than 120 million Xbox Series and PS5 consoles out there already – not including the number of Nintendo Switch owners there are – there's still an enormous market for games, if not the machines themselves.

And of course, there's still cloud gaming – of which Xbox is trialling a free, ad-supported version as things stand. Maybe that's the future after all. It's certainly a way to circumnavigate rising hardware costs if you can serve the best games to devices people already own.

That's if there's anyone left to make the games, of course.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.