Opened the Xbox app this week just to check the price of a Series X and almost dropped my phone. Another hike. Microsoft did warn back in June that this was coming from August 1st, that much is true, nobody can say they didn't know. But reading a press release is one thing, seeing the number in the store is another. <br>In Europe it turned out uglier than in the US, by the way. Not entirely sure why, nobody explains that part very well. <br>The 512 GB Series S, which was 349,99€ in July, went up to 499,99€. Stop for a second and think about that: it's basically the price the Series X launched at, back in 2020. The disc version went from 599,99€ to 799,99€, 200 euros in one go, and the digital edition landed at 749,99€. The 2 TB model just vanished. No follow-up explaining why, at least none I've seen. <br>Since the 2020 launch there's been something like 200€ piled onto the base model. It happened in pieces. One increase here, another there, and suddenly you don't quite recognize the console that was supposed to be "the affordable one" of this generation. <br>The official excuse, you already know it: storage and memory costs, which according to Microsoft have more than doubled and are expected to double again by 2027. And honestly, I don't think that part is made up. There's a real fight going on over memory chip factories, and a good chunk of it has to do with the demand AI is generating for that exact kind of component. Consoles, PCs, phones, all competing for the same production lines that now also feed AI data centers. Nobody really brings that up when the headline is just "Xbox raises prices again." <br>Third increase since 2025, by the way. Not the first one, not even close. <br>The Series S was supposed to be the affordable entry point this generation. That's not really true anymore. It now costs what its more expensive sibling cost six years ago, which has a bit of a sad irony to it, if you ask me. <br>Microsoft isn't alone in this either, worth saying. Sony already raised the PS5 back in March, the standard model went to 649,99€ and the Pro to 899,99€. Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 goes up starting in September, US first, Europe likely to follow after, like it always does. Even Valve touched the Steam Deck OLED pricing a few months back. It's not really one manufacturer taking advantage, it's the whole industry pushing costs onto buyers, almost at the same time, which somehow makes it worse. <br>If you're thinking about buying now, or waiting for prices to drop, the honest answer is probably that they won't drop anytime soon. This generation flipped that old pattern where consoles got cheaper over time. The opposite happened instead. Might be worth keeping an eye on one-off deals, bundles with games included, or a used console from someone you trust, rather than waiting for a friendlier sticker price that likely isn't coming. <br>Just left wondering how much higher this goes before the next generation shows up