Microsoft about to raise the price of its consoles?

While Sunday economists were convinced that Microsoft was going to make fun of Sony Interactive Entertainment by not increasing the price of the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S, the financial reality would be quite different. This is indeed what Phil Spencer made clear in a recent interview with WSJ Tech Live. Reported by journalist Tom Warren (The Verge), the words of the boss of the Xbox branch leave little doubt. “I think at some point we’re going to have to raise the price of some thingshe explains. But with the approach of the end of year celebrations, it seemed important to us to maintain the current prices. We have not touched the price of our consoles, nor that of the games, nor that of our subscription, but I do not think that we will be able to do it forever.“

For the record, Sony Interactive Entertainment had decided to increase the price of the PS5 last August, namely €549.99 against €499 for the Blu-ray model, and €449.99 against €399 for the digital model (i.e. a 10% increase). Boss Jim Ryan then explained that the difficult economic context – with in particular high production costs – had pushed the Japanese manufacturer to make this choice. One can imagine that these are the same reasons that will encourage Microsoft to take the same path, knowing that Phil Spencer has never sworn to the contrary.

Indeed, during an interview with CNBC last month, he had simply explained that it was not the right time to type in the wallet of the players, and that the Xbox activity was regularly monitored. All that to say that it will be interesting to know by what proportions the price of the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S will increase. Today, they cost €299.99 and €499.99 respectively. As for the Xbox Game Pass – since Phil Spencer also mentions the services – the Ultimate version costs €12.99/month (only €1 for the first 30 days).