Inflation, customs, costs: the reasons behind the explosion of Xbox prices

With the arrival of May 2025, the Xbox team published an important update concerning new prices and prices. Find out more about this subject!

Discover the games that arrive on Xbox Game Pass for May 2025!

Xbox is the video game division and Microsoft’s brand. It was created in 2001 with the launch of the first Xbox. It was during the era of the Xbox 360 that the Xbox brand really took off as a leader in multimedia content for Microsoft. The Xbox Series X and S represents the fourth generation of consoles, and the most recent.

This generation was officially released on November 10, 2020 and was a huge success, with a massive adoption of Xbox Game Pass. The latter merged with Xbox Live Gold on September 14, 2023. Buy Xbox Game Pass and play the best games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Clear Dark: Expedition 33 at an unbeatable price!

Xbox and prices: Microsoft announces an increase in prices for games and equipment

On May 1, 2025, the Xbox team announced an important news concerning American customs tariffs. In particular, the Microsoft Games Division officially announced a price increase on a large part of the Xbox services.

This increase mainly affects the equipment produced in China and in other countries strongly affected by customs prices. It also concerns certain Microsoft First-Party game titles. Xbox explains that this price increase is due to the increase in production costs, with a detailed list shared by The Game Business.

Xbox: players’ opinion and concerns about Xbox Game Pass

This new price increase is not limited to the United States, but affects all regions. This represents a significant increase which should take place during the holiday season. Xbox justifies this increase by increasing production costs, but a large majority of consumers are not of this opinion.

The most widespread opinion is that Xbox follows the example of Nintendo, which recently increased its prices. Indeed, with the announcement of the Switch 2. Nintendo increased the price of its digital games by $ 10, exceeding $ 70. This decision seems to be more motivated by the search for profits than by real “development costs”. The biggest concern today is to see a new price increase in Xbox Game Pass. Following the recent increase in PlayStation plus in several regions.

Official ads on Xbox prices on the Microsoft blog

In conclusion

This announcement has undoubtedly frustrated many consumers, with the argument of customs prices often used as a pretext for an increase in prices. This occurs despite a video game industry that continues to grow and generate important profits. And you, what do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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