Microsoft has announced that the entire lineup of Xbox will see price increases, including a dreaded increase on games.
Microsoft announced hefty price increases across all their consoles and accessories which will start today. You can see the full list below, but some key points include the Xbox Series X Digital increasing to $549 ($100 increase) with the physical being $599, the Series S to $429 ($70 increase), and Wireless controllers seeing a $10 increase.
Sadly the dreaded $80 price increase to games was also revealed to be taking place “this holiday season” for first party titles. This basically opens the flood games for competitors, and third party titles, to start charging this new price across all platforms.
The full list:
Xbox Series S 512 – $379.99 (up from $299.99)
Xbox Series S 1TB – $429.99 (up from $349.99)
Xbox Series X Digital – $549.99 (up from $449.99)
Xbox Series X – $599.99 (up from $499.99)
Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition $729.99 (up from $599.99)
Xbox Wireless Controller (Core) – $64.99
Xbox Wireless Controller (Color) – $69.99
Xbox Wireless Controller – Special Edition – $79.99
Xbox Wireless Controller – Limited Edition – $89.99 (up from $79.99)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Core) – $149.99 (up from $139.99)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full) – $199.99 (up from $179.99)
Xbox Stereo Headset -$64.99
Xbox Wireless Headset – $119.99 (up from $109.99)
It’s quite incredible considering this a nearly 6 year old generation, and typically consoles and accessories get cheaper as the generation ages into new mid gen upgrades, or a new gen entirely. Instead we are seeing the total opposite, and with Nintendo raising prices on Switch 2, it doesn’t seem a “next generation” will be any better.
Sony recently announced price increases for PS5 consoles in several regions, but had no broad plans to increase it everywhere. They also announced price increases on PS Plus in certain regions, and also increased PS5 controllers by $5 a few months ago (They were already priced higher than Xbox to begin with).
However Sony is shockingly absent from the $80 game increase train currently, but it will be no surprise when they do join the party. While Xbox might benefit from higher priced games leading more people to simply subscribe to GamePass, Sony has not been shy about abusing their massive audience on PS5 with price increases. They released relatively high priced product such as the PSVR2, PS Portal, and Pro editions of controllers and consoles. However demand for these products hasn’t been as strong as they had hoped, so maybe (just maybe) Sony will finally get an opportunity to be “for the gamers” again.
On the flip side, these price increases have somehow benefited Nintendo. Once seen as shockingly high prices, the Switch 2 is now competing with 5 year old tech that cost the same, or more. Wow, are times odd right now….
