The next domino falls as Microsoft announces Xbox console and game prices to rise

We’ve already seen Sony raise prices, and Nintendo is in the midst of its own imbroglio, but now Microsoft will be following suit.

Hike, hike, hike

You might remember that a few years back, Sony boosted console prices in pretty much every market, to try and keep pace with at the time runaway inflation. And though you might’ve missed it, Sony again raised console prices early last month in certain territories, once again making note of inflation and adding exchange rates.

At the time of the original increase, neither of the other ‘Big Three’ companies followed suit, but that’s changed quite a bit in the years since. Nintendo’s reveal of both the Switch 2 and its games came complete with pricing that had a good number of fans shaking their heads (not that it seemed to bother pre-orders). And with two down, it’s now Microsoft’s turn to give their bottom line a boost.

Starting today, Xbox Series X models will see a boost of $100 USD, with Series S‘ going up $80 USD. But the five year old set-tops aren’t the only things getting pricier. Peripherals are up $10-20 USD (depending on the model) and this holiday season’s assortment of first-party games will increase $10 USD, matching the Switch 2’s first party games at $79.99 USD each. Oh and note that we said “this holiday season” in respects to the games, as titles launching in the next few months apparently won’t be affected.

If you’re looking for a reason for the raises, you could probably guess. Though frustrating, Microsoft noted “market conditions and the rising cost of development”, both of which sounds about right. We have to wonder though, given the cost boost to what’s essentially hardware that’s reaching the end of its lifecycle, what kind of price tags will the next generation bring? And how high is too high for even the most forgiving of players.

Source: X.com/GameStop

Source: GamesIndustry