It's the 19th anniversary of the 2005 holiday season warranty fiasco of the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death. That model initially came with a 90 day manufacturer's warranty, which Microsoft was eventually forced to lengthen due to the high failure rate. These days, Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S models come with a one year manufacturer's warranty, which seems to be the new norm for video game consoles.

For this week's installment of the "Shopping for Service Contracts" series, we went shopping for video game consoles. Namely, we shopped for the Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Xbox Series S & X.

For this survey of extended warranty offerings, we found 179 service contracts for sale from 13 different online retailers, ranging from one to five years in length. The 179 extended service contracts represented seven different obligors, administrators, and insurance underwriters. We even found one retailer selling extended protection plans for refurbished game consoles.

Methodology

We limited this survey to the three most popular types of video game console at the present, the Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Xbox. Each of these consoles comes in a cheaper, "lite" version, and a more expensive "pro" version, and then for the Xbox and PlayStation, each of those types comes in a "disc edition" with a disc drive, and a "digital edition" without a disc drive.

For each of the 13 online retailers in this survey, we collected data for each of the seven types of game console, and additionally for the disc and digital editions of the PlayStation 5s and Xboxes when available. We avoided bundles that included games, controllers, and accessories, except in cases when there wasn't a non-bundle version available on the website.

The 13 online retailers where we found video game consoles and protection plans for sale were: Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's, BuyDig, Electronic Express, GameStop, HSN, Microsoft, QVC, Staples, Target, Tech for Less, and Walmart.

A few of these are regional retailers with online shops. BJ's is a big box wholesale club found in the eastern United States; BuyDig is an electronics and appliance shop in Edison, New Jersey; and Electronic Express is located in Tennessee and Georgia. Amazon, Tech for Less, and Microsoft are online-only; HSN and QVC are also television shopping networks; and the remaining five are nationwide chains with brick and mortar and online shops.

Sites where we found video game consoles, but no extended service contracts or protection plans, for sale included: ABC Warehouse, Army-Air Force Exchange, Costco, hhgregg, Kmart, Kohl's, Newegg, Nintendo, P.C. Richard & Son, Sam's Club, Sears, and Sony. This survey also does not include service contracts offered by regional retailers that are only available in-store, as we detailed in our recent newsletter "Service Contract Pricing: Televisions."

Service Contract Administrators

Across the 13 online retailers, we found seven obligor/administrator/underwriter teams behind the extended warranties. Each of these sites offered plans from only one administrator, and most offered at least two different plan lengths for each game console, though a few only offered one service contract option per console.

The most common administrator was Allstate/ SquareTrade, with obligor CE Care Plan Corp., administrator SquareTrade Inc., and insurance underwriter Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate acquired SquareTrade in 2018, and still sells extended warranties under both brands, with the same team behind them. We found five online retailers selling Allstate/ SquareTrade plans.

With Allstate branded protection plans, we found HSN, QVC, and Target, and with SquareTrade branded protection plans, we found BuyDig and Walmart.

The next most common team was Asurion, with obligor Asurion Service Plans, Inc., administrator Asurion Services, LLC, and underwriter Continental Casualty Company. We found Asurion plans for sale from Amazon, BJ's, and Staples.

We found Best Buy's Geek Squad plans backed by AIG, with obligor AIG WarrantyGuard, Inc., administrator AIG WarrantyGuard, Inc., and underwriters Illinois National Insurance Company and New Hampshire Insurance Company.

We found Consumer Priority Service (CPS) behind the plans offered by Tech for Less. Tech for Less was unique in being the only online retailer in this survey offering extended service contracts for used and refurbished video game consoles, along with new ones. We only collected data for new consoles for this survey, but noted the unique plans offered by CPS.

We found a regional retailer, Electronic Express, which administrates its own extended warranties in-house. GameStop is the obligor and administrator of its own extended warranty plans as well, but uses insurance underwriter Liberty Mutual.

And while Sony and Nintendo didn't offer extended warranties on their own online shops, Microsoft did. For the Xbox Series S and X, Microsoft offered three-year Microsoft Complete for Xbox protection plans, which us obligor and administrator Northcoast Warranty Services, Inc., and underwriter Wesco Insurance Company, which is owned by AmTrust Insurance.

Survey Results

In total, we found 179 service contracts offered by the 13 online retailers and seven warranty administrators we've outlined.

Figure 1 shows the types of game consoles surveyed.

For the PlayStation, there was the PlayStation 5 Slim, released in 2023, which ranged from $375 to $760; and the PlayStation 5 Pro, released in 2024, which ranged from $700 to $1,070. The PlayStation 5 Slim came in a 1TB digital edition (no disc drive) and a 1TB disc edition, and the PlayStation 5 Pro came in a 2TB digital edition, a 2TB disc edition, and an upgraded 4TB digital edition.

For the Xbox, there was the Series S, which ranged in price from $289 to $350, and the Series X, which ranged from $400 to $800. Both were released in 2020. The Xbox Series S came in a 512GB and 1TB version, both without a disc drive. The Xbox Series X ranged from a 1TB digital edition, to a 2TB console with a disc drive.

The Switch came in three versions: the Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, which ranged from $255 to $500; the Nintendo Switch Lite, released in 2019, which ranged from $175 to $330; and the Nintendo Switch OLED, released in 2021, which ranged from $350 to $500.

Figure 2 details the price ranges of the different video game consoles with service contract offers.

Most of the consoles fell in the $300 to $450 range, including the Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5 Slim. The next most common range was $450 to $600, including the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 Slim, and Switch OLED.

Figure 3 shows the length of the 179 extended service contracts offered for these video game consoles.

We found 11 one-year service contracts, and only one of those started when the manufacturer's warranty ended, while the others started at the date of purchase, concurrent with the product warranty during its entire duration.

We found 70 two-year service contracts, for a total of 81 one- or two-year extended warranties, which will be detailed in Figure 5.

We found 54 three-year service contracts, which will be shown in Figure 6, and 35 four-year protection plans. We also found nine five-year plans, for a total of 44 four- and five-year plans, which will be shown in Figure 7.

Figure 4 gets into more detail about the start date of these extended service contracts. While the vast majority of the video game console extended warranties we found started on the date of purchase, a select few from one particular online retailer started once the manufacturer's warranty ended.

173 of the extended warranties started on the date of purchase, advertised as "extend and enhance" plans.

The six Extended Service Protection Plans we found on Tech for Less, offered by Consumer Priority Service, started once the manufacturer's warranty ended. These plans were available for new, factory sealed game consoles, along with refurbished and used consoles. Based on our findings, this is a very unique product in the U.S. video game console market. While we found refurbished consoles on many other sites, Tech for Less was the only place where extended warranties were available alongside refurbished consoles.

One- and Two-Year Service Contracts

Our next three charts show the prices of the service contracts divided by the corresponding prices of the video game consoles, as a percentage, compared to the plan price. Each of the three charts details one of the lengths shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows the price of the one- and two-year service contracts as a percentage of game console price.

The price pairings ranges from a low of $55 for a two-year Portable Electronic Accident Protection Plan provided by Asurion, on a $700 PlayStation 5 Pro from retailer Amazon (8%), to a $70 two-year Protection & Tech Help Plan, also provided by Asurion, on a $200 Switch Lite from retailer Staples (34%).

The average cost of a one- or two-year protection plan was 15% of the video game console price. In this group, there were 53 plans below average, and 28 plans above average.

Also at the high end of the spectrum were another two plans provided by Asurion through Staples, for the Switch and Switch OLED, both of which were $100 plans that cost 29% of the total retail price of $350 for each console. Best Buy, GameStop, Tech for Less, and QVC also had plans that cost more than the average amount of the game console price.

At the low end of the spectrum were 13 plans that cost less than 10% of the total retail price of the game console, which were Asurion plans from Amazon, Allstate plans from BuyDig, and Electronic Express' in-house extended warranties.

The outlier to the right of Figure 5, which was the most expensive plan from this sample, was a $135 two-year Electronics Protection Plan with Drops & Spills Coverage provided by Allstate, on a $1,000 PlayStation 5 Pro 2TB console sold by QVC (13%).

Three-Year Service Contracts

Figure 6 shows the prices of the three-year protection plans as a percentage of the video game console price.

The price pairings ranged from a $54 three-year Walmart Protection Plan for Video Game Hardware & Accessories provided by Allstate, on a $700 PlayStation 5 Pro (8%), to a $90 three-year Electronics Protection Plan with Drops & Spills Coverage, also provided by Allstate, on a $330 Switch Lite from QVC (27%).

The average protection plan cost 14% of the price of the video game console, slightly lower than the average for the one- and two-year plans. 35 plans were below average, and 19 plans were above average.

Intriguingly, the top eight protection plans with the highest percentages all came from the same online retailer, QVC, using plan administrator Allstate. Amongst the three-year service contract, QVC was set apart by charging a much higher proportion of the product price compared to its competitors.

Also with plans above average in this group were Electronic Express, BuyDig, and Amazon. At the low end of the spectrum, with plans costing less than 10% of the price of the game console, were Walmart, Microsoft, and BJ's.

With the most expensive plan, at the far right of Figure 6, was a $200 Electronics Protection Plan with Drops & Spills Coverage provided by Allstate, on a $1,000 PlayStation 5 Pro from QVC (20%). This is the three-year version of the same plan that was the outlier to the right in Figure 6.

Four- and Five-Year Service Contracts

Figure 7 shows the prices of the four- and five-year service contracts as a percentage of the video game console price.

These plans ranged from a low of a $64 four-year Walmart Protection Plan for Video Game Hardware & Accessories provided by Allstate, on a $700 PlayStation 5 Pro (9%). This was the same plan that was the low for the three-year contracts.

The high of this group was a $100 four-year Protection & Tech Help Plan provided by Asurion, on a $203 Switch Lite from Staples, at an amazing 49%. Staples also offered two $150 four-year plans, for the $350 Switch and Switch Lite, both of which cost 43% of the console price. Staples also sold a $150 four-year plan for a $450 Xbox Series X, at 33%.

The average four- or five-year protection plan cost 22% of the video game console price. There were 26 plans below average, and 18 plans above avwerage.

The plans above average were all from Staples or Electronic Express, and the plans below average were from Tech for Less, HSN, Walmart, and Electronic Express.

The most expensive plan was a $180 five-year Alliance Warranty Solutions Extended Warranty for Electronics plan from Electronic Express, for a $700 PlayStation 5 Pro (26%).