It hasn’t been a good year for Xbox fans at all, and if recent reports are to be believed, next year could continue exactly where the last one left off.
The immense demand for AI could soon spill over into the console market and hit Xbox in particular.
A Bad Year For Xbox And No End In Sight
The current Xbox generation, meaning the Xbox Series X/S, could become more expensive once again. This time, the reason is a RAM shortage. OpenAI has signed contracts with Samsung and SK Hynix that supply the company with around 900,000 DRAM units per month. According to YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead, Microsoft is internally warning that console prices could rise again due to this shortage.
According to reports, Microsoft did not plan ahead and is therefore more affected by the shortages than its competitor Sony. Sony is said to have anticipated the rising RAM prices early on, prepared accordingly, and increased its stockpiles.
This could mean that a console generation that has already become more expensive over time instead of cheaper may see yet another price increase. Xbox appears to be particularly at risk.
Why Rising Console Prices Are A Real Problem
This year has already been anything but pleasant for Xbox fans. Now, the RAM shortage could lead to even higher console prices. And that is a major issue, because consoles primarily appeal to a more casual audience, meaning people who are not willing to spend thousands of dollars on a high-end gaming PC. Many players choose a console precisely because they expect clear pricing, ease of use, and a stable, straightforward platform.
However, when consoles continue to become more expensive, this advantage gradually fades. The devices move closer and closer in price to powerful PCs, yet they do not offer the same flexibility or the ability to replace individual components. For buyers who traditionally rely on a fair price-to-performance ratio, this creates uncertainty. If this trend continues, the very audience the console market has relied on for years could begin to slip away.
What The Current Situation Means For Xbox Fans
In the end, many Xbox fans are left wondering where the console market is heading. When even established devices become more expensive year after year, it puts particular pressure on those players who are looking for an affordable and straightforward platform.
It is still unclear how Microsoft will respond, but the signals coming from the industry at the moment offer little hope for falling prices. What is clear is that the current situation is a symptom of a broader development in which the gaming world is becoming increasingly dependent on global hardware trends. For players, this mainly means that the coming months will show how the situation evolves and whether things calm down for Xbox.
What do you think? Are you Team Xbox and in tears or Team PlayStation and quietly smug right now? Let us know in the comments!
