Tariffs
and global economic uncertainty are leading to higher prices for goods around the world, especially impacting the tech and gaming sectors.

PlayStation announced in April
that it was increasing prices in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Now Microsoft is following suit, but this time it also affects the US.

Microsoft has announced it is raising prices on its

Xbox Series X/S consoles
, Xbox controllers, and some first-party games worldwide. Xbox’s flagship console, the 1TB Xbox Series X, is increasing to $600, up $100 from its original $500 price tag that has been in place since its launch in 2020. The price of the 512GB Xbox Series S, Microsoft’s all-digital alternative to the Xbox Series X, is increasing to $380, up $80 from its initial $300 price tag.

Microsoft is also raising the price of some of its new first-party Xbox games this holiday season to $80. It’s unclear which titles will be affected.

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” Microsoft said in a support page post. “Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”

Microsoft Xbox Series X

4K Capabilities

Yes, with HDR

Brand

Microsoft

Game support

Digital and physical media

Processing Power

12 TFLOPS

Storage

1TB internal SSD (expandable

CPU

Custom Zen 2 8X Cores @ 3.8 GHz

Expand

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The cost of gaming continues to grow

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These price changes are not exclusive to the US and affect consumers worldwide. Microsoft specifically outlined price changes in the US, the UK, Australia, and Europe, with other countries expected to receive price changes as well based on “exchange rates and market conditions.”

It’s not just consoles that are affected by this; accessories are included as well. Xbox wireless controllers and headsets are both receiving new “recommended retailer pricing,” with the price of a standard black Xbox wireless controller moving to $65 and the Xbox wireless headset to $120.

One thing that has not been impacted by Microsoft’s recent price hikes is Xbox Game Pass, its subscription service that allows players to download and play its latest games. However, Microsoft is taking a page from Nintendo’s playbook by increasing the price of some of its new first-party Xbox games this holiday season to $80. This brings Xbox’s game pricing in line with the Switch 2’s top titles, like

Mario Kart World
.

A small silver lining in this is that Microsoft did say existing first-party games would not be receiving a price hike. It also highlighted that any of those $80 first-party Xbox games purchased through the Xbox Store support its Play Anywhere feature, allowing players to download the game on PC as well “at no additional cost.”

I remember a time when after a console had been out for half a decade, its price would decrease, not increase; but it seems those days are long gone. The price of games and hardware continues to grow at unprecedented levels, a trend that doesn’t seem like it will be going away anytime soon.

With the Xbox Series X, which came out in 2020, costing $600 now, I can’t even begin to imagine what the price of Xbox’s next new console will be. The same goes for PlayStation. Are $700 or $800 game consoles on the horizon? With global economic uncertainty affecting virtually every country, and the Trump administration’s tariffs and trade policy, they very well could be.

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