Xbox made an announcement regarding the costs of consoles, accessories and of course video games. In an official statement, executives confirmed that there will be a record price increase four and a half years after the launch of this fourth generation of Microsoft consoles, which exceeds 25% of the launch price, also increasing the costs of accessories such as controllers and perhaps the most worrying for the gaming community: Video games from internal studios such as Xbox Game Studios and derivatives.
Drivers of the Xbox price increase
Although the main factor of the record increase in consoles and accessories are Trump’s tariffs, something that its beginnings are not credible, as Microsoft is an American company, most parts are manufactured in China, which increases the cost of production and therefore the final price of the Xbox X|S Series and controllers. This theory may not be credible, as the company itself, Microsoft, is the second richest company, so the tariffs do not affect them at all and they can give their products at a loss, just as Valve has done with their Steam Deck. So neither tariffs nor Trump are a justification, but rather the second factor.
With the appearance of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the “Drop the prices” campaign for its high costs and divided opinions regarding these, it was only a matter of time for any other company to copy the Japanese company’s strategy and the first ones were Xbox. However, its increase was with a record figure that surprised the gamer community, but above all its users, culminating with the announcement that video games from its internal studios would cost: $80 dollars, $90 euros (taxes included) recalling Mario Kart World that set the precedent of standard edition games at this price.
These would be the new list prices that the consoles will have, although the prices for Mexico or Latin America have not been announced, i.e., including taxes.
Xbox X Series: $599.99 (Previous Price: $499.99)
Xbox X Series Digital: $549.99 dollars (Previous price: $449.49 dollars)
Xbox Series X Galaxy Black $729.99 (Previous price: $449.49 dollars)
Xbox Series S 1 TB: $379.99 dollars (Previous price: $299.99)
Xbox Series S 512 GB: $429.99 dollars (Previous price: $349.99)
This would be the new list price of the accessories excluding taxes:
Wireless Controller (Limited Edition): $89.99 (Previous price: $79.99)
Wireless Controller (Special Edition): $79.99 (Previous price: $69.99)
Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller: $199.99 (Previous price $179.99)
Wireless Headphones: $119.99 (Previous Price: $109.99)
Any gamer who ventured the current generation of consoles that began in 2020 must recognize that it has been one of the worst and has been full of ups and downs and controversies, placing Xbox and its entire ecosystem as one of the worst placed even among its users. With this new announcement, its latest card is undoubtedly its video game service: Xbox Game Pass, which although it is the best among all the existing ones in terms of quality-price, it could decrease its sales when it stops selling consoles.
Recall that this is not the first time a company increases the price of its consoles, as a few weeks ago Sony increased the price of the PlayStation Slim, PlayStation 5 Pro, as well as its controllers, the PlayStation Portal and its PlayStation Plus service.
