Xbox Consoles, Games Become Costlier: Microsoft Hikes Prices By Up To $100

Tech giant Microsoft is raising prices for Xbox consoles, controllers, and some first-party games globally. The Xbox Series X now costs $599.99, up $100 from the earlier price. Meanwhile, the new first-party Xbox games will also rise to $79.99 later this year.

Despite these increases, Xbox Game Pass pricing remains unchanged for now. These revised retail prices for Microsoft's Xbox consoles and controllers took effect from May 1.

“We adjusted recommended retailer pricing for our consoles and controllers worldwide,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

On the move, Microsoft said that the revisions were needed in view of the “market conditions” and rising costs of production.  

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” the tech giant said.

Based on the price revisions, Microsoft's Xbox Series S (512GB) will now cost $379.99, compared to the earlier price of $299.99. Meanwhile, Microsoft will charge $429.99 for the Xbox Series S 1TB model. The 2TB Galaxy Black special edition model is now an eye-watering $729.99.

Besides the consoles, Microsoft has also planned to hike the prices of Xbox wireless controllers and headsets. Based on the revised prices, the controllers will cost $64.99 in the United States. Meanwhile, the headsets will now cost $119.99. Microsoft said that the Xbox Stereo Headset and Xbox Wireless Headset price revision will only impact the US and Canada.

Notably, in the aftermath of Trump's announcement and a later pause on tariffs, Japanese video game company Nintendo had also hiked its prices for various games. Some of the new prices announced by Microsoft for Xbox will now match the expensive pricing of Nintendo's top Switch 2 launch titles.

Microsoft said that certain Xbox controllers, including the Adaptive Controller and Adaptive Joystick, will be available at their current prices.