Xbox has announced that it's raising the prices of both of its consoles currently on the market, as well as "some" of its upcoming first-party games, in response to "market conditions".
In a post on its website, Xbox says the changes have been made due to the aforementioned conditions, as well as the "rising cost of development". From today, you'll be paying $550 for a digital Xbox Series X and $600 for the version with a disc drive, while the Xbox Series S will set you back $380 and $430 for the 512GB and 1TB models, respectively.
In terms of software prices, Xbox will be raising the price of some of its games to $80 "starting this holiday season", although Xbox doesn't specify which games this will apply to.
Pricing for other regions, including the UK and Europe, will also be changing, so bear that in mind if you're planning to pick up a new Xbox console this year. Judging by the way Xbox hardware sales are going, though, there's a pretty good chance you're not.
Microsoft isn't the first company to announce that some of its games will get this kind of price jump. When the Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed last month, Nintendo announced that certain first-party games, including launch title Mario Kart World, will cost $80, although not every first-party Nintendo game will set you back that much; Donkey Kong Bananza, for instance, will retail for $70.
Given that both Nintendo and Microsoft have taken these steps, and that Sony also raised the prices of the PS5 in certain territories recently, it's probably only a matter of time before some PS5 games retail for $80 as well.
Of course, in the background of all of this are the tariffs recently introduced by President Donald Trump. While many countries have received a 90-day reprieve from said tariffs, China, which is a manufacturing hub for much of the gaming world, is a notable exception from said reprieves.
We'll have to wait and see how folks respond to Microsoft's pricing changes, but given the widespread criticism aimed at Nintendo for the same decision, I can't imagine this will go down well. Stay tuned for more.
