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Xbox follows its competitors in price hike, leaving fans frustrated and furious
We're seeing price increases everywhere in the gaming industry, from the Switch 2 and its games jumping to $450 and $80 to Sony raising PS5 costs in Europe and Oceania. The latest entry in this ever-growing list of pricing changes is Microsoft raising the global cost of Xbox X and S consoles by up to $100. In a May 1 announcement, Microsoft revealed that the prices of Xbox Series X and S consoles, regardless of storage and edition, will increase. The Series X is rising by $100 to $599.99, while the 512GB version of the Series S will increase to $379.99. These changes are worldwide, with the Series X making a £20 and €50 jump in the UK and Europe, respectively. Other countries will also receive updated recommended retailer pricing that varies by country. Xbox Series X and S consoles aren't the only products affected, either. We'll also see a jump in Xbox wireless controller and headset prices, varying depending on the type and edition, while some new, first-party game prices rise to $80 per title. While Microsoft hasn't dove too deep into its causes, its attribution to "market conditions and the rising cost of development" points to inflation as the main cause, with recent US tariffs being a potential, albeit not fully confirmed, factor. Image via Xbox These details follow last month's announcement that Nintendo will price the Switch 2 and its games at $450 and $80, and a more recent reveal that Sony will do the same with the PS5 in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The PS5 jumped from €449.99 to €499.99 in Europe, while the UK faced similar increases from £389.99 to £429.99, Australia from AUD $649.95 to $749.95, and New Zealand from NZD $769.96 to $859.95. Image via Xbox Image via Xbox Image via Xbox These price increases across three of the world's most prominent console market players cast a worrying shadow across the gaming industry. With inflation gradually causing games and hardware to increase in price and a steadily rising cost of living, it's becoming noticeably harder to remain on the fence about life's purchasing decisions. Seeing this alongside present-day PCs costing well over $1,000 to support modern gaming specifications, we're looking at some understandable annoyance from console players who look to Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch consoles as affordable platform options. Reddit was among the first to notice, with reactions ranging from surprise that the price increase is toward a five-year-old console to the PC gaming community encouraging console players to join their side. Similar sentiments were shared across Twitter (X), particularly through comments on posts from The Game Awards' Geoff Keighley and Wario64. The consensus is a mix of confusion and frustration, especially with previous price hikes from Sony and Nintendo in mind. What does this mean for the future of the gaming industry? The future looks scary, especially with known and unknown variables potentially impacting future-gen consoles. Although this turbulence could mark the beginning of a new standard for the industry, the continued rise of indie games is shining some much-needed light and optimism on an otherwise frightening situation. Fortunately, we're not seeing evidence of additional Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo products increasing in price, nor have any announcements of other companies like Valve and Meta raising prices on platforms like the Steam Deck and VR headsets. Xbox also has no plans to raise the price of existing games, giving you an opportunity to explore older titles that may be on your backlog. The post Xbox follows its competitors in price hike, leaving fans frustrated and furious appeared first on Destructoid.
We're seeing price increases everywhere in the gaming industry, from the Switch 2 and its games jumping to $450 and $80 to Sony raising PS5 costs in Europe and Oceania. The latest entry in this ever-growing list of pricing changes is Microsoft raising the global cost of Xbox X and S consoles by up to $100.
In a May 1 announcement, Microsoft revealed that the prices of Xbox Series X and S consoles, regardless of storage and edition, will increase. The Series X is rising by $100 to $599.99, while the 512GB version of the Series S will increase to $379.99. These changes are worldwide, with the Series X making a £20 and €50 jump in the UK and Europe, respectively. Other countries will also receive updated recommended retailer pricing that varies by country.
Xbox Series X and S consoles aren't the only products affected, either. We'll also see a jump in Xbox wireless controller and headset prices, varying depending on the type and edition, while some new, first-party game prices rise to $80 per title. While Microsoft hasn't dove too deep into its causes, its attribution to "market conditions and the rising cost of development" points to inflation as the main cause, with recent US tariffs being a potential, albeit not fully confirmed, factor.
These details follow last month's announcement that Nintendo will price the Switch 2 and its games at $450 and $80, and a more recent reveal that Sony will do the same with the PS5 in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The PS5 jumped from €449.99 to €499.99 in Europe, while the UK faced similar increases from £389.99 to £429.99, Australia from AUD $649.95 to $749.95, and New Zealand from NZD $769.96 to $859.95.
These price increases across three of the world's most prominent console market players cast a worrying shadow across the gaming industry. With inflation gradually causing games and hardware to increase in price and a steadily rising cost of living, it's becoming noticeably harder to remain on the fence about life's purchasing decisions.
Seeing this alongside present-day PCs costing well over $1,000 to support modern gaming specifications, we're looking at some understandable annoyance from console players who look to Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch consoles as affordable platform options. Reddit was among the first to notice, with reactions ranging from surprise that the price increase is toward a five-year-old console to the PC gaming community encouraging console players to join their side. Similar sentiments were shared across Twitter (X), particularly through comments on posts from The Game Awards' Geoff Keighley and Wario64. The consensus is a mix of confusion and frustration, especially with previous price hikes from Sony and Nintendo in mind.
What does this mean for the future of the gaming industry? The future looks scary, especially with known and unknown variables potentially impacting future-gen consoles. Although this turbulence could mark the beginning of a new standard for the industry, the continued rise of indie games is shining some much-needed light and optimism on an otherwise frightening situation.
Fortunately, we're not seeing evidence of additional Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo products increasing in price, nor have any announcements of other companies like Valve and Meta raising prices on platforms like the Steam Deck and VR headsets. Xbox also has no plans to raise the price of existing games, giving you an opportunity to explore older titles that may be on your backlog.
The post Xbox follows its competitors in price hike, leaving fans frustrated and furious appeared first on Destructoid.
