Prime Highlights:
- Microsoft is raising prices on Xbox Series X and S globally due to higher development expenses and U.S. tariffs.
- Xbox first-party games to lift price to $79.99 in 2025.
Key Facts:
- The Xbox Series X costs $599.99; Series S models from $379.99 to $429.99.
- controllers and headsets also receive price increases.
Key Background
Microsoft increased prices globally on its Xbox Series X and S consoles, accessories, and first-party games on May 1, 2025. Xbox Series X will now cost $599.99, $100 higher, and Series S will cost $379.99 for the 512GB SKU and $429.99 for the 1TB SKU. Xbox controllers will cost $64.99, headsets will cost $119.99. First-party Xbox games will rise to $79.99 from the 2025 holiday season.
Microsoft had attributed the price hike due to a rise in the cost of development as well as simply going through economic strains, such as Chinese imports tariffs in the US. The company reiterated that it was on cautious consideration of market conditions and the rise in the cost of development that the price hike was executed. Despite the price hike, Microsoft posted a very robust fiscal quarter when it reported a huge surge in preorders and preinstalls on both the PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Those increases in price are in line with price increases found in the gaming sector, namely on PS5 consoles by Sony. Both companies explained their raises at the doorstep of inflation and worldwide economic pressure. Even at those astronomically high prices, both companies are preparing for holiday season with projections of strong consumer demand and struggling with the cost of more costly development and manufacturing.
Typically, Microsoft’s increase in Xbox prices is the general direction of the video game industry whereby increasing economic forces are dictating the direction of what comes next. As Sony and Microsoft respond to growing economies, video game game players will be paying increasingly higher dollars for their video game software and hardware in the future.
Credit: insightssuccess.com
