Eventually the Xbox might raise prices in the future
New statements from Microsoft
Although Microsoft had recently emphasized that it does not intend to increase the prices of its consoles, “since the world is under pressure” – as it had typically stated -, perhaps some adjustment is finally on the horizon.
Elaborating, Xbox head Phil Spencer talked about the possibility of Microsoft games starting asking €79.99, something we’ve seen many companies do for years. In particular, the high-ranking executive spoke to WSJ Tech Live , where he said that Microsoft has resisted price increases on consoles, games and subscriptions , but emphasized that this may not last much longer.
In more detail, Phil Spencer stated:
I think at some point we will need to raise the prices on some things, but with the holiday season coming up we thought it was important to keep the prices up.
We’ve kept the prices on our console, we’ve kept the prices on our games and our subscription. I don’t think we can do this forever. I think at some point we will need to raise the prices on some things…
At the moment it is clear that nothing will change in 2022 , but from 2023 it is not unlikely that we will see increases in the prices of the Xbox Series X|S, maybe also in Microsoft games or maybe even in the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
For the record, price increases in gaming have been one of the hotly debated topics since the beginning of this generation, when many publishers decided to increase the cost of their games to €79.99. Among others, PlayStation , 2K Games and Activision were among the first companies to start charging more for their titles, with many more to follow.
At the same time, PlayStation also made an unprecedented move, increasing the retail price of the PS5 in Europe , the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada. Specifically, in Greece, the PS5 with the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc now costs €549.99, while if someone wants to get the PS5 Digital Edition that does not have the ability to read discs, then they will have to pay €449.99. This means that both versions of the console got a €50 increase from their original price. We’ve seen something similar happen in the VR market, with Meta asking $100 more for the Quest 2.
Finally, recently we have also seen companies that had initially resisted price increases, such as Ubisoft , announce that they are also raising their games to €79.99. PC gamers have not been unaffected by this wave either, with Steam recently announcing increases in its suggested prices for the European market.
