PlayStation And Xbox Stock Shortages Threaten To Derail Gaming's Biggest Year Ever

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

Sony

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. 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. Back then, Ball said: "I can tell you definitively demand for our console exceeds the supply."

Although Ball claimed the Green Team is making Xboxes as quickly as possible and putting them in as many stores 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."

Referring to some markets having an inadequate supply, Ball called it a 'privilege' to have a sa company, but it is "a challenge for us to figure out.”

READ MORE: GTA 6 Ban Locks Over One Billion People Out Of Playing 2026's Biggest Game

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 PS5 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 PS4, 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. 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.