Some retailers are reportedly preparing stores and customers for shortages PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles before the 2026 holiday season. The shortage will coincide with the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 on PS5 and Xbox consoles.
Shortages have been nothing new in the gaming industry in recent months, with rising demand for components causing massive supply issues. The rise of AI data centers has led to a significant shortage of RAM chips, causing RAM prices to skyrocket for both the PC and gaming industries. Many companies have already started adjusting their prices to compensate for the lack of available components, including Apple recently raising the prices of several popular devices such as the MacBook and iPad products. Now, the big retailer is reportedly preparing for a shortage of both Sony and Microsoft's leading game consoles.
Retailers are already planning for holiday console shortages
In a statement shared by TheGameBusiness, an anonymous source at a major game retailer warned of shortages during the holiday shopping season. An anonymous source suggested that “demand will exceed supply” by late 2026 thanks Grand Theft Auto 6launching in November. Neither Sony nor Microsoft have made any official statements regarding the console's potential shortage, though both have addressed the lack of RAM.
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With the console market expected to be particularly affected by the lack of RAM, both Microsoft and Sony have touched on the issue. Microsoft has raised the price of Xbox consoles several times before, most recently confirming new Xbox price hikes that will take effect on August 1st for several Xbox Series X and Series S models. Sony similarly raised the prices of PlayStation 5 consoles in April, with the standard disc drive version of the console now selling for $649.99, although the company previously said it would have enough consoles to last through the 2026 calendar year.
The expected shortage of consoles comes as both companies have already given fans a reason to upgrade. Sony previously sent emails to active Grand Theft Auto 5 gamers on PlayStation 4, encouraging PS4 users to upgrade to PS5 before the official release Grand Theft Auto 6. Many new games have also begun excluding last-gen consoles from their launch plans, with one of the most notable examples coming with the reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Many popular free-to-play games have also begun to end support for older consoles, including Genshin Impact at the end of 2025 and Call of Duty: Warzone following Modern Warfare 4edition.
The RAM shortage is expected to affect the gaming industry far beyond console availability during the holiday season. Prominent chipmaker Micron suggested in December 2025 that RAM shortages could continue beyond 2026, after the company decided to end consumer RAM production. The upcoming release of Valve's Steam Machine is also believed to have been affected by the rising cost of RAM, with Valve recently confirming that the console will retail for over $1,000 for the base 512GB version. Gamers could be in for a bumpy and expensive ride in the coming months, with no sign of the RAM shortage abating in the near future.
