Xbox Series X|S: How Their Prices Have Changed Over The Past Five Years

It's typically the case that whenever a console generation begins and a new batch of systems are released into the world, you'll save a bit of money by waiting as long as you can - hold off until there's a discount you can't pass up.

That's happened at times during the Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 era, but more recently we've seen the price actually increasing compared to launch five years ago, to the point where they're perhaps worse value than ever right now.

So, let's take a look back and see what's happened, shall we? Here's a quick overview of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S and how their prices have altered over the past five years:

The Xbox Series S and X launched at a price of £249 / $299 and £449 / $499 respectively back on November 10th, 2020. For the first couple years of their existence, the problem wasn't the price but rather finding enough stock to get your hands on one - especially in the case of the X, which constantly seemed to be unavailable.

It was a difficult time for the entire world, of course — both systems launched in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic — so it came as no surprise that stock was hard to come by. This meant scalpers were able to profit in a significant way, and even companies like CEX in the UK were reselling next-gen consoles at much higher than their RRP.

As the stock situation relaxed and the world slowly began to return to normal though, those long-awaited price drops finally started to arrive. We reported on multiple price drops back in 2022 where the Xbox Series X would drop to $449 and the Series S as low as $199, and similar prices cropped up during Black Friday in 2023 as well.

Microsoft even officially dropped the price of the Xbox Series X to $399 for Christmas 2023:

It was only after this that things really started to change. Xbox had originally said in 2022 that it wouldn't follow a decision from Sony to increase the price of the PS5, but the situation had evolved by 2023, and the price of one or both consoles ended up increasing across multiple countries. In June, the price of the Xbox Series X had risen to £479 in the UK and €549 across most of Europe.

Those aforementioned Black Friday price drops didn't make it feel like that big of a deal though - it was only in May of this year that we all started to majorly feel the pinch. With Sony announcing more console price increases in April, Microsoft followed suit a month later by revealing the Xbox Series X was going up in most countries, including a $100 jump to $599 in the US. The Xbox Series S also rose to $379 at the same time.

And then, back in September, both consoles increased once again in the US specifically, rising to a whopping $649 and $399. That's $150 more than launch for the Series X, and $100 more for the Xbox Series S. Madness!

Of course, Microsoft isn't the only company that's implemented price increases in recent years - as mentioned, Sony has been doing it a lot with the PS5 as well. It seems their hands are tied in some respects, and let's not forget how the strategy has shifted in recent years from console to a whole range of newly-christened "Xbox" devices.

That leaves late adopters in a pretty difficult place though. With no signs of the Xbox Series X and S dropping in price officially, and Black Friday unlikely to provide any major discounts, it might be hard to justify forking over that much money for a five-year-old console. The next generation of Xbox is on the horizon, but with the likes of the Steam Machine arriving before then, there's an opportunity for Valve to step in with a competitive offering and change the landscape as we know it.

What a crazy generation it's been for console prices, eh?

How are you feeling about Xbox Series X|S prices these days? Tell us down in the comments section below.