Xbox Consoles to Go Up in Price Again

Prices of the Xbox series of consoles are once again going up, with Microsoft citing that the global components crisis is continuing to hammer the console business.

In an official blog post on the Xbox Wire, Microsoft has said that it has been forced to once again increase prices of the Xbox Series of consoles, citing an over-250% increase in the cost of storage and memory. It also says it expects this to double again by the end of next year.

512 GB models of the Xbox Series will increase by $100 USD, and 1 TB models by $150 USD. The company will also be discontinuing the 2 TB model, presumably because prices have risen so dramatically that the price point may be unpalatable for the average consumer.

Last year, the company increased prices by between $20 and $70 depending on model, bringing the cumulative increase to as much as $220 USD on the highest tier.

Xbox says it is looking to make the console more affordable for consumers, including by supporting "Buy Now, Pay Later" and interest-free financing models, and says it will work with retailers to provide further opportunities in the trade-in and pre-owned segments.

It's unclear what this means for Xbox's next console, codenamed 'Project Helios', but as we reported last week, both Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and chief strategist Matthew Ball have stated that the company needs to look at alternative models to support console sales, including by investigating subsidy models for Microsoft's upcoming console.

Microsoft has not announced global pricing adjustments, including for Australia and New Zealand. We've reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this story when we hear back.