The $799 Xbox Is Here: What the August 1 Price Hike Actually Changes

Xbox Series X and Series S, hardware photo. Credit: Newfiebluejay / L0Ldu82, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

We flagged this one three weeks ago, and the deadline has now passed. As of August 1, the Xbox Series X costs $799.99, up $150, and the Series S starts at $499.99 for the 512GB model, with the 1TB version at $599.99. The 2TB Galaxy Black special edition has been discontinued outright. If you took our advice in July and bought early, you saved real money. If you didn't, here is what the new landscape looks like.

The New Price Board

Why: Your Console Is Competing With AI Data Centres

Microsoft's stated reason is not platform strategy or exchange rates. It is memory. The company says console storage and memory component costs have risen more than 2.5x, driven by the enormous demand AI data centres are placing on the same DRAM and NAND supply that game consoles need. Microsoft has signalled it expects those costs to roughly double again by late 2027.

That framing matters, because it means this is not an Xbox-specific problem. Sony already raised PS5 pricing about 30% across the line back in April. Nintendo lifts the Switch 2 to $499.99 on September 1. Valve pushed Steam Deck OLED pricing up roughly 50% earlier this year. Every hardware maker is absorbing the same shock, and every one of them has now passed it to buyers.

What This Does to the Buying Calculus

Three weeks ago the Series X at $649.99 was arguably the strongest value in 4K console gaming. At $799.99 that argument collapses, and the ranking inverts:

• The PS5 disc model at $649.99 is now the cheapest 4K disc console, $150 less than a Series X, for broadly comparable performance and a deeper exclusive library.
• The PS5 Pro at $899.99 is only $100 above a Series X. That gap used to be $250. If you were already stretching toward a Series X, the Pro is suddenly a much easier upsell.
• The Series S is no longer the budget option. At $499.99 it costs exactly what a Switch 2 costs this month, and the same as an Xbox Series X did at its 2020 launch. It remains the cheapest entry into Game Pass, but "cheap" is doing less work than it used to.
• The Switch 2 at $449.99 is now the least expensive current console on the market, and only until September 1, when it goes to $499.99 too.

Game Pass Is Still the Counterargument

PressBeast of Reincarnation. Courtesy of Game Freak / Xbox Game Studios, via Xbox Wire, used for editorial coverage.

Hardware got more expensive; the software proposition did not. Game Pass Ultimate still bundles 400-plus titles with Day One access to every Microsoft release, and August is a genuinely strong month for it. Game Freak's Beast of Reincarnation, a post-apocalyptic action RPG set in the year 4026 built around a woman and her dog fighting as a unit, arrives day one on August 4. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy follows on August 27.

If you play four or five new releases a year, Game Pass still repays a Series S faster than buying those games outright on any other platform. The hardware premium just stretched the payback period.

How to Soften the Hit

Microsoft rolled out financing alongside the increase, which tells you something about how it expects the market to react:

• Certified refurbished Xbox units at up to $100 off the new MSRP, the single best way to dodge most of this hike.
• Interest-free financing up to 12 months via Amazon, plus Buy Now Pay Later at Microsoft Stores.
• Trade-in offers on older consoles.
• Watch for retailer stock at old pricing. Retailers who stocked up pre-hike sometimes sell through at the previous MSRP for a few weeks. Our live deals tracker catches those the day they appear.

The Bottom Line

If you want a 4K console today, the PS5 is now the value play and the PS5 Pro is the aspirational one. The Series X sits awkwardly between them at a price its spec sheet no longer justifies. If you want Game Pass, the Series S is still the cheapest door, just a less remarkable bargain than it was on July 31. And if you want the cheapest new console of any kind, the Switch 2 holds that title for exactly four more weeks.

The broader lesson is worth internalising: with memory costs still climbing, waiting has cost money every single time this year. There is no sign that reverses before 2027.

→ Compare current pricing across every system on our Weekly Drop price board, updated every Tuesday, or check live console prices on Amazon.

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