All Three Console Makers Raised Prices In 2026

Three Price Rises In One Console Generation

Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have each raised United Kingdom and European Union console prices during 2026. Sony moved first in April, Microsoft followed in August, and Nintendo's increase takes effect on 1 September, putting all three of the industry's hardware makers on the same side of a price rise inside a single calendar year.

Console prices have historically fallen as a generation matures, not risen, because hardware is typically sold close to cost while games and services carry the profit. Three separate increases from three separate companies, landing within months of each other, breaks that pattern for the first time this generation.

Nintendo Raises The Switch 2's Price In The UK

Nintendo will raise the Switch 2's United Kingdom price from GBP 395.99 to GBP 419.99, an increase of GBP 24, effective 1 September 2026. It is the console's first UK price change since launch.

Nintendo said the increase "doesn't even come close to actually covering the costs incurred," pointing to memory and component costs as the driver, according to Nintendo Life's reporting on the announcement.

Xbox And PlayStation Prices Rose Earlier In The Year

Microsoft raised Xbox Series X and Series S prices across the United Kingdom, United States, European Union, Canada and Australia effective 1 August 2026. The Xbox Series X disc console rose from GBP 499.99 to GBP 669.99 in the UK and from EUR 649.99 to EUR 799.99 in the EU, with Microsoft citing what Pure Xbox reported as "component supply challenges" and an ongoing "component crisis."

Sony raised the standard PS5's UK price from GBP 479.99 to GBP 569.99 and its EU price from EUR 549.99 to EUR 649.99 in April 2026, the third UK price increase for the PS5 this generation. Sony cited "continued pressures in the global economic landscape," as corroborated by GB News and Push Square reporting.

UK And EU Prices Before And After Each Increase

The table below sets out the UK and EU prices each console carried before and after its 2026 increase.

The AI Memory Link Is Servola's Reading, Not A Company Claim

None of the three companies has named artificial intelligence as the reason for its price increase this year. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony each pointed to component or memory costs, exchange rates or general economic pressure, and none has publicly tied its pricing decision to AI data centers.

Servola's own reading is that the timing is not a coincidence: these increases land at the exact moment AI data center demand for high-bandwidth memory and DRAM is squeezing the same memory supply chains that console makers draw on. That link is Servola's inference from the concurrent AI memory shortage, not something any of the three companies has confirmed, and buyers and retailers in the UK and EU should expect further hardware price pressure for as long as AI memory demand keeps growing faster than new fabrication capacity.

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