GTA 6 is coming soon, and Xbox will charge you up to 43% more for your console

Microsoft is raising the price of the Xbox Series X and Series S by up to 43% in the United Kingdom and Europe, just three months before the release of GTA 6. Here are the numbers.

Xbox has suddenly raised the price of its consoles in the United Kingdom and Europe, with the increase reaching as high as 43% for some models. The measure took effect on August 1 and comes just over three months before the release of GTA 6, scheduled for November 19, 2026—one of the most storage-intensive games in memory.

How Much Have the Prices of the Xbox Series X and Series S Increased?

Microsoft has confirmed the new prices for the UK and the Eurozone. The Xbox Series X with a disc drive goes from £499.99 to £669.99 in the UK (+34%) and from €599.99 to €799.99 in Europe (+33%). The 512 GB version of the Series S is going from £299.99 to £429.99 (+43%) and from €349.99 to €499.99 in the Eurozone.

The steepest price hike of all is for the 1 TB Series S, which has skyrocketed by nearly 49%. No version is spared: the disc version goes up, the digital version goes up, the smaller model goes up, and the larger model goes up.

Why Xbox Prices Are Rising: The “Component Crisis”

Microsoft attributes the increase to rising costs for memory and storage, two key components in any console.

“Prices for console memory and storage have risen more than 2.5 times, and we anticipate another doubling between now and fall 2027.”

The company had already warned in June that prices would rise “globally” on August 1, though at that time it only provided figures for the United States and left the rest of the world in the dark. With the figures for the United Kingdom and Europe now on the table, the impact outside the U.S. is proving to be harsher than anticipated in June.

What Does This Have to Do with GTA 6

The price hike comes at a delicate time for anyone thinking of upgrading their console before November. GTA 6 is shaping up to be one of the most storage-intensive games in the series, with the Leonida map and next-gen textures demanding more and more space. The more expensive memory components become for manufacturers, the more pressure there is on the final price of the hardware—at precisely the worst possible time for the wallets of millions of gamers.

This isn’t just an Xbox issue: prices for RAM and SSDs have been rising across the industry for months, partly due to demand for artificial intelligence. Microsoft openly acknowledges this in its statement and doesn’t rule out the trend continuing through 2027.

What We Still Don’t Know

Microsoft hasn’t confirmed whether there will be further price hikes before the end of the year or whether PlayStation will follow a similar path in Europe. Nor has it explained whether the suggested retail price of physical games—including GTA 6 itself—will reflect the same rise in component costs. This is speculation by the community, not something Rockstar or Take-Two have commented on.

You can follow all the latest news on the countdown at more news and review everything Rockstar has confirmed so far about the game at what’s been confirmed.

With three months to go until November 19, Microsoft’s message makes one thing clear: the console is going to cost you more just when you need it most.