We’ve already had a packed year for video games in 2026, with everything from Resident Evil Requiem to 007 First Light soaring up the charts. Video games racing toward a new $70 standard isn’t even the biggest gripe, with the hardware needed to play them also costing more than ever. We’ve just covered Xbox price hikes, while scalpers have been trying to get around the Switch 2’s increased price tag.
There’s also the Steam Machine being revealed with a whopping $1,000 point of entry, as the artificial intelligence boom and soaring RAM prices are ultimately being passed down to consumers. Even though we’re being hit in the pocket, this still isn’t the end of the story, with genuine fears that we soon won’t be able to nab the PlayStation and Xbox consoles needed to play the rest of the year’s biggest titles.
PlayStation And Xbox Shortages Could Start A Worrying Trend
According to The Game Business, we could be facing PlayStation and Xbox shortages before Christmas as one major U.S. retailer says they’re concerned about being able to meet demand. Speaking without the permission of their employer, the senior games buyer explained: “We’ve been informed that because of the ongoing issues around hardware component availability, we won’t be getting the units we want ahead of GTA”. The source believes: “Demand will likely outstrip supply during the year end period”.
The outlet reached out to PlayStation and Xbox for clarification, although we’re reminded how Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki promised investors in May that “for calendar year 2026, the necessary volume has been secured”.
Elsewhere, Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball admitted to The Game Business that there were already supply issues at the start of June. Ball said: “I can tell you definitively demand for our console exceeds the supply”. “We are putting them in as many stores as possible. We are producing them as quickly as possible. There is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that, but it’s not a question of appetite”.
“We need to do more, but there are constraints here. And so there are, unfortunately, a number of different markets in which we do not have supply”.
The AI Factor: Why Components Are So Scarce
The elephant in the room here is the generative AI boom and its impact on hardware prices. Due to component shortages resulting from AI’s dominating surge through the stock market, an already troublesome cost of living crisis has morphed into a greater problem for tech consumers.
The price rises are the direct result of the “RAMpocalypse” — an ongoing global memory shortage and price crisis driven by semiconductor manufacturers reallocating their DRAM and NAND production capacity to high-margin hardware for AI data centers. Microsoft has confirmed that console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x with expectations of another doubling by the fall of 2027.
GTA VI Sees Console Demand Soar
Console shortages couldn’t have worse timing, especially as Sony gears up for the PlayStation-exclusive Marvel’s Wolverine, Microsoft is readying Gears of War: E-Day for Xbox, and both are bracing for a tsunami of sales from GTA VI. In terms of the latter’s potential impact, Ball said: “It’s going to invigorate a lot of players. It’s going to move some additional devices”.
We already know the PlayStation 5 Pro looks like the optimum way to play GTA VI, as Sony is making a lot of noise about why you should pick its console for your return to Vice City. Considering GTA VI is a wholly new-gen release that will leave behind the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, those who don’t already have their successors had better be quick. Of course, the last thing we want to do is trigger panic buying.
More than this, there’s no sign of GTA VI‘s PC release, so you’re locked into being a PS5 or Xbox Series owner, biding your time, or simply missing out.
Console Prices Are Already Soaring
The shortages are compounded by significant price hikes across both platforms:
Xbox console price rises effective August 1, 2026:
- Xbox Series S 512GB: $399.99 → $499.99
- Xbox Series S 1TB: $449.99 → $599.99
- Xbox Series X 1TB Digital: $599.99 → $749.99
- Xbox Series X 1TB: $649.99 → $799.99
PlayStation consoles have also seen substantial increases, with the PS5 currently costing $649.99, the PS5 Digital Edition $599.99, and the PS5 Pro $899.99.
“Last October, we increased Xbox console price by $20-$70 in the U.S.,” Microsoft said when it announced the latest price rises. “We hoped another price increase would not be necessary. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x”.
The Scalper Threat
The combination of high demand, limited supply, and skyrocketing prices creates a perfect storm for scalpers. With GTA 6 expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, consumer interest in buying a new console is expected to skyrocket. Scalpers will almost certainly use bots to snap up available stock and resell at inflated prices, as seen during the PS5 launch in 2020.
“If you need a PS5 to play GTA 6 and you are worried about supply, buy early,” warns one gaming site. “Do not wait until November when demand peaks and any shortage bites hardest. Beating both the shortage and the scalpers means buying before the rush”.
Also, Read
- GTA 6 Pre-Order Loophole Discovered As Gamers Secure Clever 15% Discount
- GTA 6 Looks Incredible, But Digital Foundry Warns New Screenshots Might Be “Too Good to Be True”
- GTA 6 Branded A ‘Rip Off’ As Inflated Prices Plague Gamers Outside Of The US
What This Means For You
Then again, as you’ve had six years to get a PS5 or Xbox Series, most of us already have one. Even though the Sony PlayStation Disc Drive add-on has faced stock shortages in the past, the fact that GTA VI isn’t launching with a physical disc might actually be a good thing.
If you were thinking of grabbing a console before this holiday season, you may want to grab one soon before they’re no longer available — or before they’re slapped with more price hikes.
Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Pre-orders are now live.