Microsoft announces Xbox Series X & Xbox Game Pass price hikes for July & August
Having stated that price increases would almost certainly be coming this year, Microsoft has now confirmed Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass price increases in many countries and regions around the world.
From 1st August, Microsoft is bumping up the price of their premier games console, the Xbox Series X, by £30 in the UK to £480, €50 in Europe to €550, $50 CAD in Canada to $650 CAD, and $50 AUD in Australia to $800 AUD. The price in the US, Japan, Chile, Brazil and Colombia will remain the same for the Xbox Series X.
Additionally, Microsoft are holding the same price point for the budget Xbox Series S, clearly seeing this entry-level digital-only machine as something worth hanging onto, though they have just announced an Xbox Series S with 1TB internal storage for $50 more, so won’t want to muddy the waters in terms of pricing there.
“We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market,” said Xbox head of communications Kari Perez in a statement to The Verge.
The move follows in Sony’s footsteps, who raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in September last year. Not long after, Xbox boss Phil Spencer stated that they would hold pricing steady through the end of 2022, and reconsider their position in 2023. That is also leading to price increases to Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for Console pricing will increase starting 6th July 2023, while PC Game Pass pricing will remain unchanged. On this occasion, US gamers will also be affected.
The company is keen to state that these price changes are not related to the expected acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but are simply adjustments being made as pricing has remained locked
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