Microsoft announced price hikes to its Xbox consoles and games Thursday, citing “market conditions” and rising costs of production, marking another major price hike to video games following President Donald Trump’s tariffs after Nintendo announced it would increase prices for its newly launched Switch 2 console.
The prices of all Xbox consoles will rise at least 20%. (Photo by Phil Barker/Future Publishing via ... More
Microsoft’s recommended retail pricing for its Xbox consoles will jump at least 20% for each version, according to a company announcement Thursday.
The cheapest Xbox console on the market, the Series S with 512 GB of storage, will jump from $299.99 to $379.99, a price hike of more than 26%, while the version with 1 TB of storage will rise from $349.99 to $429.99, an increase of more than 22%.
The Xbox Series X and Series X Digital will each rise $100 in price, the digital version from $449.99 to $549.99, and the Series X from $499.99 to $599.99.
Microsoft said it will also raise prices for some of its games to $80 in time for the holiday season, following in Nintendo’s footsteps after it also raised some game prices to $80 in April, breaking the previous industry standard of $70 for games.
Microsoft did not mention Trump’s tariffs by name in its announcement, though it cited “market conditions” and “the rising cost of development” as reasons for the price hikes.
$729.99. That’s the new recommended retail price for the most expensive Xbox model—the Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition—according to Microsoft’s announcement. The price jumped more than 21% from its previous retail price of $599.99.
Nintendo surprised some gaming fans in April by offering a higher-than-expected price for its new Switch 2 console, which sells for a recommended retail price of $450—much higher than the $300 the original Switch sold for at launch in 2017. Most of Nintendo’s Switch consoles are produced in China, Trump’s biggest tariff target, and Vietnam, which also faced steep tariffs. Joost van Dreunen, a New York University Stern School of Business professor who teaches about the business of video games, told Forbes the tariffs hit Nintendo at a “vulnerable moment” amid the Switch 2 rollout, stating the tariffs were probably steeper than the company expected.
Nintendo Surprises With Switch 2 Price Hike—As Trump Imposes Tariffs On China And Vietnam (Forbes)