Microsoft increases Xbox prices. Of many.
In an announcement made today, the company said it would increase the prices of Xbox consoles, controllers, helmets and certain games. The increase in prices of consoles and accessories comes into force today, May 1, and if the prices of the games remain unchanged for the moment, you should expect to see the Xbox invoice $ 79.99 / 79.99 euros for new owner games as the end of year celebrations approach.
Price increases take effect worldwide, with the exception of helmets’ prices, which increases only in the United States and Canada.
Here are the prices provided for the various Xbox consoles and accessories in Europe:
- Xbox Series S 512 – 349,99 euros
- Xbox Series S 1TB – 399,99 euros
- Xbox Series X Digital – 549,99 euros
- Xbox Series X – 599,99 euros
- Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition – 699,99 euros
- Xbox wireless controller (Core) – 64.99 euros
- Manette sans fil Xbox (Color) – 69,99 euros
- Xbox wireless controller – Special edition – 79.99 euros
- Xbox wireless controller – Limited edition – 89.99 euros
- Xbox Elite Série 2 (Core) wireless controller – 149.99 euros
- Xbox Elite series 2 (complete) wireless controller – 199.99 euros
You can consult the other price changes by region on the official announcement page of the Xbox here.
Microsoft sent the following declaration to IGN to explain the reasons for these price increases:
“We understand that these changes represent a challenge, and they have been made taking into account market conditions and the increase in development costs. For the future, we continue to strive to offer more possibilities to play more games on any screen and guarantee added value to Xbox players.”
Although we do not yet know which Microsoft owner games will cost 80 euros, we can guess that the line-up could include the next Call of Duty, the new fable, which has recently been postponed to 2026, the Reboot of Perfect Dark, Clockwork Revolution of Inxile, Everwild of Rare, that Phil Spencer, the boss of Microsoft, recently tested. : E-Day of The Coalition, OD of Hideo Kojima, or State of Decay 3 by Undead Labs. The Double Fine Psychonauts developer is also working on a new game.
Microsoft has planned an Xbox Games Showcase 2025 as well as a Direct The Outer Worlds 2 in June, where fans will probably know more.
-This is the first time that we have been witnessing an increase in the price of Xbox Series Ses consoles since their launch in 2020, the company having committed to maintain the existing prices in 2022 when PlayStation increased the prices of the PS5. However, Xbox increased the price of Xbox Series X in 2023 in most countries, but not in the United States. And the company has increased the prices of the Xbox Game Pass several times worldwide.
The price increase by Microsoft is not really surprising. Last week, PlayStation did the same in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, for the second time in three years.
The entire industry has discussed and gradually implemented price increases in recent years, AAA game prices having gone from 60 to 70 dollars in the past five years only, and Nintendo having opted for $ 80 for Mario Kart World, exclusivity of the Switch 2, and some other games of the Switch 2 publishing. Launched at 510 euros, a price that aroused criticism from Nintendo fans, even if analysts admitted that such a high price was probably inevitable in current economic conditions.
It was before Nintendo was forced to reassess the price of its console following the announcement of new customs tariffs in the United States, which continued to fluctuate. Analysts suspect Nintendo to increase prices again after launch, and the Software Association Entertainment warned that Nintendo would not be the only one to do so:
“What do you know? The media coverage of video games and customs duties was interesting because the revelation of the Switch [2] took place on the same day as the announcement of President Trump, which is only an unfortunate coincidence. There are so many devices on which we play video games. There are other consoles, but as I said, the VR helmets, our smartphones, people who love games on PC, if we think that there is only Switch, then we do not take things seriously. It will have an impact. “
“And even companies based in the United States, they receive products that must cross American borders to manufacture these consoles, to make these games. The impact will therefore be real, whatever the company. It is not a business, but a whole sector. There will be an impact on the whole industry.”
It seems that times are hard for players, whatever the platform they choose.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior journalist at IGN.
