Multiple retailers in the U.S., Australia, and Oceania are reportedly halting sales of Xbox Series S and X. Costco in New Zealand is clearing out its Xbox hardware stock. In the U.S., Sam's Club is no longer selling the console in its online store. Shoppers report that EB Games is doing the same in Australia.
Reports on Reddit show a Costco unit in New Zealand selling the Xbox Series X 1TB for half its original price, which is equivalent to $255 U.S. dollars. Earlier this month, several deal monitors spotted the same console at a clearance price of $369 at Sam's Club in the U.S., down from its original $499.
Xbox sales haven't been in good shape for a while. Estimates from VGChartz show it has a historical hardware market share of 12% (vs. PS5's 29% and Nintendo Switch 1's 56%, in units sold), with sales dropping in half since the first console price hike in May 2025. A second price hike in the U.S. is coming on Oct. 3, which will take the Series X 1TB to $649.99 and make the Series S 512GB the cheapest unit at $399. If sales trends follow those of the first price hike, sales should drop further in October, which would make stocking the console not worth the investment to retailers.
Low historical hardware sales, paired with a second price hike that Microsoft blames on "changes in the macroeconomic environment," are likely making these stores pivot away from Xbox. Destructoid has reached out to Sam's Club for comment, while a Costco store in the U.K. confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz they're no longer selling Xbox consoles.
Microsoft has pivoted away from gaming hardware and towards Game Pass for years. The Game Pass catalogue is growing and getting more relevant games on the day of their release, like Palworld in early access and the 2025 indie hit Hollow Knight: Silksong. But in the hardware front, Microsoft's latest investment was in a partnership with Republic of Gamers, which led to the release of the handheld ROG Xbox Ally X. Microsoft seems more interested in partnering with third parties to release hardware than working on new proprietary consoles.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's competitors only grow stronger. PS5 sales are stable despite the console suffering its own price hikes in 2025, and the Nintendo Switch 2 became the fastest-selling gaming hardware in U.S. history despite early stock issues that are now solved.
Now that retailers are responding to Microsoft's decisions on Xbox's new pricing, we should soon see how their decision to halt Xbox sales will affect the future of Xbox Series consoles and their successor, if there is any.
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