With "GTA6" scheduled to be released on November 19, 2026, major game retailers have issued early warnings about their supply capabilities at the end of the year. According to a report by The Game Business, a senior game buyer said anonymously that due to the continued tight supply of hardware components, merchants are unable to obtain sufficient inventory before the release of "GTA6", and it is expected that "demand will most likely exceed supply by the end of the year."
Sony and Xbox appear to be in different situations when it comes to supply chain issues. Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki told investors at an earnings call in May that the company had prepared a "necessary number" of PS5 consoles for this year. In contrast, Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball recently admitted that demand has exceeded supply. He said: "We are producing as much as possible and distributing it to as many stores as possible, but there are serious constraints on production capacity. The question is not whether anyone will buy it."
One of the important reasons for the tight supply of hardware is the explosion of generative AI. The AI craze has seized up a large amount of chip production capacity, causing the price of memory and storage components to rise sharply, thereby pushing up the overall cost of consumer electronics products. The Microsoft Xbox team previously announced that the storage and memory prices of consoles have increased more than 2.5 times, and are expected to double again by the fall of 2027.
On June 25, Microsoft announced that the global price of Xbox Series X/S will be raised again starting from August 1, with the Series Valve also stated that due to component costs, the final selling price of Steam Machine was higher than expected.