Do you want the bad news, or the worse news first? There's no good way to do this, so why don't we just hear both at the same time: game hardware got much more expensive in 2025, and we should prepare for similar price hikes in 2026.
Circana industry analyst Mat Piscatella tells GamesRadar+, "I'm not afraid to say I'm extremely concerned about" rising hardware prices in 2026. Already, the standard Xbox Series X has gone up to $600 from $500, each version of the PS5 went up $50, and the original Nintendo Switch – released in 2017, let's remember – became $340 instead of $300.
