More Major U.S. Retailers Reportedly Pulling Xbox Console Stock [UPDATED]

Updated on October 12: Microsoft said Walmart and Target remain “committed partners” in a statement to Windows Central, suggesting the recent clearances were location-specific moves rather than an indicator of company-wide policies. The original story is as follows.

Even more major stateside retailers have reportedly started pulling their Xbox console inventory. The purported turn of events signals further trouble for Microsoft’s embattled Xbox hardware division.

In late September 2025, the Costco website scrubbed its entire Xbox section, and the retailer’s physical stores marked down their remaining Microsoft consoles significantly in an apparent move to clear out their inventory. Subsequent consumer reports indicated the effort was global, spanning not only Costco’s U.S. locations but also stores in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and other countries.

Walmart and Target Reportedly Pulling Xbox Consoles

The trend is now said to be continuing with multiple other major retailers. Target reportedly started removing its Xbox sections in certain stores during the week of October 6, according to testimonies from Reddit users CodeE1985 and Jawwaad127, both of whom self-describe as Target employees. Chiming in on this alleged development, Reddit user Spacefox_85 said that the Walmart they work for is also planning to ditch its entire Xbox section following an ongoing store remodel. These reports emerged online within days of Sam’s Club beginning an Xbox console clearance, and less than a month after Costco did the same.

Neither Walmart nor Target have yet officially confirmed that they’re pulling Xbox products on a national scale, as part of company-wide policies. But the writing seems to be on the wall, especially after Costco confirmed that its Xbox clearance was a “business decision” that it has no intention of revisiting for the time being.

Microsoft Insists It Isn’t Giving Up on Xbox Consoles

Complicating the narrative, Microsoft insists that it isn’t giving up on Xbox hardware, having most recently said as much on October 5. According to a statement from a company spokesperson provided to media outlets, the tech giant is still “actively investing” in first-party gaming hardware as of late 2025, with the main implication being that another Xbox console generation is only a question time.

What remains less certain, especially in light of recent developments, is what Microsoft’s next-generation console lineup will look like. With hardware sales cratering amid a brand decline and tariff-driven price hikes—the latest of which took effect on October 3, raising the price of the 2TB Xbox Series X to $800—the company may be compelled to align its next console more closely with PCs. A unified SDK could standardize multi-platform development and enable studios to continue releasing Xbox console games without major additional investments, essentially treating them as PC versions that target a specific hardware configuration. According to recent industry reports, the tenth console generation is currently expected to launch in late 2027.

Brand

Microsoft

Original Release Date

November 10, 2020

Original MSRP (USD)

$499

Operating System

Proprietary (Windows-based)

Processor

Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz

Resolution

720p – 4K UHD

Source: TheGamer