Xbox set to increase price of consoles and games

Microsoft has revealed significant price increases for all Xbox devices, including the Series X/S controllers, headsets, and consoles. These changes take effect immediately, but later in the year, Xbox first-party game pricing will also be raised to $80.  Microsoft has consistently kept the prices of the current-generation Xbox consoles in the US at $500 and $300, respectively, since the Xbox Series X/S debuted in late 2020. Although there were price increases for the Series X abroad in 2023, Microsoft has remarkably remained resilient domestically despite inflation and financial difficulties that have affected the whole business.

That has changed, though, as Microsoft has raised the Xbox's general price by the most in recent memory. With immediate effect, the Xbox Series S (1TB) increases from $350 to $430, while the Xbox Series S (512GB) increases from $300 to $380.  Now retailing for $600, the regular Series X is just $100 less expensive than the PS5 Pro, and the 2TB Galaxy Special Edition will cost a whopping $730, more than the more powerful Sony system.

The Elite Series 2 controllers may cost up to $200, whereas Xbox controllers now range in price from $65 to $90, depending on the model.  The cost of the Xbox Wireless Headset will also go up to $120 in the US and Canada. In addition to raising the price of the hardware, Microsoft said that it will start charging $80 for new Xbox first-party games around the holidays of 2025.  Xbox has now formally adopted the contentious pricing policy that Nintendo recently introduced for some first-party Switch 2 games, making it the second publisher to do so.\

Check Out: Rockstar Games reveals GTA 6 release date

Xbox got increased after 2013

Future Xbox titles such as Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, and the next Call of Duty entry are anticipated to debut at the new $80 price range. "Market conditions and the rising cost of development" were cited by Microsoft in a statement as the primary causes of the price rises. Microsoft decided to boost the price of its first-party Xbox games by $10 after raising them from $60 to $70 in 2023. That was approximately two years later.

Nintendo's entry into the $80 pricing range for first-party games appears to be encouraging other publishers and platform owners to investigate the concept, as such regular base price rises for games have never occurred in the industry.  Whether big businesses like Sony, EA, Take-Two, and others do the same in the upcoming months is still up in the air.

Also Read: Far Cry 4 comes up with an update after 11 years