Xbox asks owners of unused consoles to trade them in at Best Buy

Microsoft is emailing Xbox owners in the United States who have not played on their console in a while. The email suggests trading in the Xbox Series X or S at Best Buy. Consoles are scarce and expensive, a month before Grand Theft Auto VI.

The email asks whether the player has moved on to Xbox on PC or another way to play, and points to the trade-in at Best Buy, IGN writes. Windows Central confirmed the email.

Used consoles for less

Microsoft announced the plan in June. Players who no longer use their console can trade it in at participating shops for cash or store credit. Those consoles are then sold again at a lower price, Microsoft wrote at the time.

Consoles have become more expensive over the past year. Companies building AI, Microsoft among them, buy up large amounts of memory, which pushes up the prices of hardware, according to IGN. Xbox hardware sales are at their lowest level ever, Windows Central writes, citing research firm Circana.

Shortage before GTA VI

GTA VI comes out on 19 November only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. IGN expects the game to drive many players to buy a console. Whether Sony and Microsoft can meet that demand is not known.

Whether the trade-in email will also go out outside the United States is not known.