On the back of yesterday’s positive fiscal results for Xbox, today parent company Microsoft is making a difficult, and unpopular decision to raise prices of nearly everything in its gaming division, except for Game Pass.
The announcement was made this morning and it will affect all Xbox hardware, controllers and some software. In the US the Xbox Series X (1TB) will be increasing $100 to $599.99. The Xbox Series S (512GB) will be going up to $379.99 from the previous price of $299.99, a price increase of $80. Additionally the Series S 1TB model will now be $429.99 while the digital Series X will go up to $549.99. The 2TB galaxy black special edition that was recently released will be going all the way up to $729.99.
This is a worldwide increase and not just a US one however, with prices set to go up in most, if not all countries and regions. In Europe and the UK the Xbox Series S (512GB) will now be priced at €349.99 / £299.99, with the Xbox Series X (1TB) rising to €599.99 / £499.99.
As far as accessories are concerned controllers will now be going up to $64.99 US and headsets will be $119.99. It would appear most retailers have already adopted this price point for accessories.
Software Reflecting Nintendo Switch 2 Pricing
Additionally Xbox is raising the price of some of its upcoming software from $69.99 to $79.99 starting in the 2025 holiday season. While they haven’t outright said anything specific about this price increase, it falls in line with the recent software price increase from Nintendo for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 releases. Considering games like South Of Midnight didn’t launch at the $69.99 price point this year that is likely why they only said “some”, implying their smaller projects will still come at a cheaper price point.
With economic uncertainty in the world right now due to the constant threat of tariffs from the US, we fear this might become a common them from all major companies.
The only “good” news to come out of this is that their pricing increases won’t affect the price of Xbox Game Pass, at least not at this time. Many have expected another price increase in the service, and with game prices going up to $79.99 it is probably inevitable that the price will increase at some point.
Microsoft’s comment from today’s announcement states:
“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”
With gaming becoming a more and more expensive hobby by the day, Xbox is likely banking on Game Pass becoming an even more value proposition the is attractive to gamers. So far it hasn’t seen the growth it was forecasting, however they did see big games last quarter. Will these price increases help Game Pass subscriptions? Time will tell.
To see how the price changes may affect you we recommend clicking the link above and checking your price region.
