‘They Didn’t Plan Ahead At All’

The Xbox Series X launched at $500 back in 2020. Now it’s $650, the same price as a PS5 Pro during Black Friday. But one tech insider now claims the console could still get even more expensive. YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead recently reported that Microsoft reps have been warning of further price hikes due to parts shortages amid the AI boom.

The race to manufacture and sell GPUs for AI computing is reportedly leading to shortages of DRAM components. While there are concerns about chip maker AMD having to raise prices, which could impact the cost of next-gen gaming consoles (Sony, Microsoft, and Valve are all working with AMD on their upcoming hardware), it could reportedly impact current Xbox hardware pricing as well.

“They didn’t plan ahead at all, apparently,” Moore’s Law Is Dead said in a recent video. “If you still want an Xbox for some reason at their current pricing, those prices could go up soon, or supply could just entirely dry up because multiple sources of mine have apparently been warned by sales reps at Microsoft that this is going to affect the Xbox Series consoles very very soon.”

RAM price increases will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years. Factories are diverting leading edge DRAM capacity to meet AI needs where data centers are bidding far higher than consumer device makers. https://t.co/VgO2OG4oOr

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) November 24, 2025

If Microsoft’s current-gen consoles did get a price increase anytime soon, it would be the third one in only a year. The Xbox Series S started at $300 at the beginning of 2025 before going up to $380 in May and then $400 in September. The Xbox Series X’s pricing trajectory over the last year has been similarly dramatic, going from $450 at the beginning of the year to $600 by the end.

Any further price increases, whether due to ongoing tariffs or new component shortages, would effectively be the death knell for hardware that has already struggled this generation against the PS5 and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Next year is set to be a big one for Microsoft with a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, Forza Horizon 6, and Fable all slated to arrive back-to-back. They’re unlikely to sell anyone on a new $700 Xbox Series X, if it gets to that point, no matter how good they are.