Costco has quietly removed Xbox consoles from both its online and physical stores in the US and the UK, leaving many gamers surprised. Shoppers attempting to browse Xbox products on Costco’s websites now encounter a “We’re sorry. We were not able to find a match” error, while in-store visits reveal shelves stocked with PlayStation and Nintendo consoles—but no Xbox.
The first signs of the removal emerged earlier this week when Resetera user kubev noticed the US online store no longer listed Xbox consoles. Similarly, a Reddit user flagged last month that Xbox products were absent from Costco’s US site. GamesIndustry.biz confirmed these reports and found that the site’s video games page no longer includes an Xbox category, though PlayStation and Nintendo products remain fully available. Historical snapshots via the Wayback Machine show that the Xbox category was present as recently as May 2025.
The UK online store shows a similar trend. The Gaming PCs & Consoles section now lists PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, while searching for “Xbox” only returns unrelated peripherals like a Thrustmaster racing wheel. Wayback Machine archives indicate that the Xbox Series X was available on June 11, 2025, but had disappeared by August 6, 2025. In-person visits to UK Costco stores on September 24, 2025, confirmed the absence of Xbox consoles, though nearby PC World locations still had the Series X and Series S in stock. Costco UK customer service also confirmed that the Xbox is no longer carried, stating, “We don’t actually have the Xbox anymore.”
Costco has not publicly addressed the removal of Xbox products from its stores, and the company has yet to comment on the change.
Several industry factors may help explain this shift. Physical sales of Xbox games have been declining steadily in recent years. A 2024 analysis of European market data revealed that only 19% of new Xbox Series X and S titles were sold through retail stores during the first 40 weeks of 2024, down from 26% in the same period of 2023. By contrast, PlayStation 5 games still maintained a stronger presence in physical retail, with 32% of new releases sold in-store in 2024, despite a drop from 41% in 2023.
Price adjustments may also play a role. Microsoft raised the price of the Xbox Series X in the US by $100 on May 1, 2025, citing “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Another price hike was announced this week, attributed to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra noted, “Console price increases are not tariff issues, they are profit issues,” highlighting that the adjustments are more about margins than import tariffs.
While tariffs on Asian markets, particularly China where Xbox consoles are manufactured, have been a point of concern, Microsoft has not linked the recent price increases directly to them.
The removal of Xbox consoles from Costco stores reflects a combination of market trends, shifting consumer preferences toward digital game purchases, and strategic retail decisions. For Xbox fans, the consoles are still available through other retailers, but the absence at one of the world’s largest wholesale chains is a notable change for the gaming retail landscape.