Microsoft announced on Thursday, May 1st, that it will increase the recommended prices for xbox game consoles and for some global controllers, invoking “market conditions”,
Bad news for photo gamers: Shutterstock
The company said that increased prices will not affect the titles already launched.
“We understand that these changes are difficult and have been taken carefully, taking into account the current market conditions and the growing costs of development“Microsoft said.
The new rates will also influence some exclusive games produced by Microsoft, which means higher costs for gamers during the holidays. The company has announced that the recommended prices for some new games will reach $ 79.99, a continuation of the trend started in 2023, when the prices for major securities have climbed from 60 to $ 70.
In the US, the Xbox Series S console with 512 GB storage space is now $ 379.99, compared to $ 299.99. The top model, Xbox Series X, climbs to $ 599.99, from $ 499.99. Both consoles were launched in 2020. The price of the Xbox wireless controller, a special edition, increased from $ 69.99, according to CNBC, quoted by News.ro.
Price increase comes against the background of increasing video games development, a accentuated problem for Microsoft after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023, for $ 75.4 billion.
According to legal documents quoted by Game File, the Call of Duty’s game: Black ops Cold War of 2020 cost over 700 million dollars to be produced.
However, Microsoft reported a sales increase for Call of Duty and Minecraft in the third tax quarter on Wednesday.
Price increases and other console producers
Other large console producers and increases have also announced increases. In April, Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 console at the price of $ 449.99, compared to $ 300 for the original model, and expensive games.
Sony has increased prices for PlayStation 5 without optical unity in Europe and three other countries, starting April 14, invoking inflation and exchange rate. Also, the PlayStation Plus subscription has become more expensive in some regions.
