Xbox announces price increase globally, citing "market conditions"
"We understand that these changes are challenging."
Only weeks after Sony announced price increases for the PS5, Microsoft has joined the fray, hiking the price of Xbox consoles.
In an update to the Support section of the Xbox website, the company confirms that as of 1st May, it has "adjusted recommended retailer pricing for our consoles and controllers worldwide".
This means prices of Xbox consoles and controllers have immediately increased in all territories, while the price of headsets has gone up in the US and Canada alone.
The Xbox Series X will now cost £499.99 / €599.99 in the UK and EU, and $599.99 in the US.
This marks an increase of £50 / €50 for European consumers, and a whopping $100 increase for US players.
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As well as an increase in hardware costs, it has also been confirmed that the price of some games will be increasing along with them.
"We expect to adjust the pricing of some of our new, first-party games starting this holiday season to $79.99," reads the post.
Considering the backlash Nintendo has faced since confirming that certain first-party titles like Mario Kart World would have that $80 price tag, Xbox following suit is sure to play badly among many consumers.
The company may hope that any losses in sales caused by higher game prices will be recouped by additional Xbox Game Pass subscribers, with the service perhaps being viewed as better value in comparison.
As for the reason behind the increases, Xbox has remained fairly vague: "We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development."
While this could, of course, mean anything, it doesn't feel like too much of a jump to put at least some of the fault down to the US tariffs that have been put in place in recent months.
Xbox recently confirmed in its third quarter earnings report that while revenue was up five per cent year-on-year thanks to strong first-party sales and Game Pass numbers, console sales had fallen by six per cent across the same period.
With the company moving to a new model that focuses more on selling their games across all platforms, an increase in console pricing does appear somewhat punishing for loyal Xbox consumers.
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