Breaking: Xbox and Microsoft reveal global price increases for consoles, accessories — and even games

Mibu no ookami said:
These tariffs will likely push Microsoft out of the hardware business faster than most of us predicted.
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In addition to tariffs and the price increase, GTA6's move to May 2026 is probably the final nail in the coffin. GTA6 is likely the last blockbuster game that would push a million plus console purchases, and I'm sure there is a fair amount of casuals still on last gen that would jump in. With these new prices and GTA6 being over a year away now, I think Xbox sales flatline and lose share to the point of being irrelevant by then.
 
Tiago Rodrigues said:
Dude went from telling people to buy a PC gaming to...actually buying a PS5 Pro...not even a regular PS5 lmao.
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In the span of two months...

I said the narrative on the PS5 Pro was going to shift drastically after an initial social media campaign to suppress it. Presumably Sony will now also have a PSSR version upgrade in time for GTA6's release, so it could be considerably better performing on PS5 Pro than the base consoles now. And who knows how long this pushes out the PC version.
 
Jaybe said:
In addition to tariffs and the price increase, GTA6's move to May 2026 is probably the final nail in the coffin. GTA6 is likely the last blockbuster game that would push a million plus console purchases, and I'm sure there is a fair amount of casuals still on last gen that would jump in. With these new prices and GTA6 being over a year away now, I think Xbox sales flatline and lose share to the point of being irrelevant by then.
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It's going to have a terrible Holiday quarter even worse than the previous one... It'll be a surprise if they sell more than 2 million units this whole year...
 
scydrex said:
Now with $80 games then we all know there is a possibility of a price increase this year for Gamepass too.
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I love that you think it's just a possibility.
NeverYouMind said:
It is possible...
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well if we are using refurbished products then the pro is even cheaper.
 
ZehDon said:
If the world has taught us one thing since COVID, it's that industries know how to move together now. You can't boycott a specific party to force them back to the market price if everyone in that market raises their prices together. Sony moved to USD$70, everyone followed. Nintendo's moved to USD$80/USD$90, and everyone will follow.

The industry will need to crash and burn to force these companies to give up their greed at this point.
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The reason this is happening is because the current gaming environment is massively deflationary to revenues.

Like consider that digital games have made it incredibly easy and cheap to "create" copies of your games and distribute them to willing customers, nowadays, a niche JRPG doesn't have to print like 50k disc copies and pray to hell that they distributed them correctly around the world so all the copies go to customers that want them.

Dev tools have become ubiquitous and largely unified, a 30-something team can create a game that is just as graphically-leading as something a 1000-man studio can do.

So if you want to make a game you can just make it and submit it to a digital platform and it's there for ppl to buy. This has resulted in a massive, MASSIVE increase in the supply of games, and game pricing is clearly being affected by it. Look at big corporations doing %30-40 price cuts mere months after a game is out.

Mibu no ookami said:
I do find it fascinating that Microsoft can't be directly criticized.

It's the generation that sucks.

Is it possible or evenly likely that Sony will follow suit? Sure, but let's actually wait for that to happen and criticize them equally when it does rather than proactively lumping them in with Microsoft and obfuscating the criticism here.

Also, gamers should realize how complicit they've been in making this a reality. The constant goings on about DEI/Woke helped lead us here, while ignoring economic realities of what tariffs would do to the industry and the gaming community.

Now are companies going to position themselves to take advantage of the situation? Absolutely, and that is where I'll echo people's suggestions of voting with their wallets. Don't buy games at 80 if you don't think the games are worth 80. Tell your friends to do the same.

I once posed the question to the board on how much you would pay for a 10/10 or 11/10 game and the results were interesting

Mibu no ookami

Thread 'How much would you pay for a 10/10 or 11/10 game?'

When you think back to your favorite games of all time, what's the most you would have paid to play them if you knew the impact and enjoyment you'd get out of them?

I think of games like Super Metroid, Final Fantasy 7, Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy X, The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Zelda A Link to the Past, and Super Mario World.

Personally, I think if a publisher is confident their game is the end all be all, I don't think they should feel compelled to max the price out according to other games.

If I knew what Chrono Trigger was...

A majority said they wouldn't pay more than 70 even if they knew the game was a masterpiece that would stick with them forever. We're going to see how honest people were being then.
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People have been consistently "warning us" of how PS6 was gonna cost $800 and games will reach $80 if Xbox exits the race.

Now we are in a reality where this is not only happening while Xbox is around, but Xbox is the one doing the massive raising first too.

Hilarious when you think about it.
Mibu no ookami said:
It's interesting to think about how many moving pieces there are right now.

Does Sony follow suit quickly to balance the market? Or have they stockpiled enough PS5s that they can continue to sell as is and use this opportunity to corner the market? Or does Sony stop and recognize that maybe the people buying Xboxes still have no interest in a PS5 and that eating the costs is only reducing the revenue and profit they'd make from people interested in a PS5.

I feel like they could probably wait a couple months to figure the answer to that question assuming they hae the inventory to do so.
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If I was Sony, I would honestly see how much I can stay without raising prices.

But who knows what Totoki and Nishino think?
 
This is might be the first time in my 30+ years as a gamer where I'm completely uninterested in all major console platforms

Using my Switch 2 money for a new carpet cleaner and vac (and excited about it lol)
with Xbox I'm sticking with the 360/Xbox One X, my PS3 is still hooked up
and everything I want to play on PS4/PS5 is on PC already
I'm out until PS6/Nextbox at this point
 
Astray said:
People have been consistently "warning us" of how PS6 was gonna cost $800 and games will reach $80 if Xbox exits the race.

Now we are in a reality where this is not only happening while Xbox is around, but Xbox is the one doing the massive raising first too.

Hilarious when you think about it.

If I was Sony, I would honestly see how much I can stay without raising prices.

But who knows what Totoki and Nishino think?
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Microsoft is in no way a competitive counterbalance to Sony. I don't think we've ever seen anyone who is in 3rd place in the industry unilaterally raise their prices.

I think Sony would be smart to keep pricing the same in the US. They have the first opportunity since the PS3 to reclaim their market share, but I don't really think Totoki has that long-term view and what is unfortunate about Sony's new management structure is that no one is specifically in charge of the North American market, who would probably push back on this, instead you have Nishino who has to report favorable numbers to Totoki, pretty much immediately...

Getting market share back in North America would probably allow them to focus more on competing with Nintendo in Japan in the future.

But all that said, I don't know how any of this impacts their plans for a PlayStation handheld and the PS6. I do think the PS6 is going to be a spicey meatball in terms of pricing though. I hope they don't think they can just keep iterating on PS4.
 
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Ok, I may be looking at this wrong. A digital game purchase SHOULD circumvent any tariff increase right? So digital game purchases should be less. Acutally they should be less anyway but thats a different story........
 
Mibu no ookami said:
In the span of two months...

I said the narrative on the PS5 Pro was going to shift drastically after an initial social media campaign to suppress it. Presumably Sony will now also have a PSSR version upgrade in time for GTA6's release, so it could be considerably better performing on PS5 Pro than the base consoles now. And who knows how long this pushes out the PC version.
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It will be interesting to see the industry impact.

I know we were talking before about how a cheaper PS5 alongside the GTA launch could be big for 2025, but obviously that's gone out the window now.
 
Woody337 said:
Ok, I may be looking at this wrong. A digital game purchase SHOULD circumvent any tariff increase right? So digital game purchases should be less. Acutally they should be less anyway but thats a different story........
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Companies are spreading the tarrif cost by raising prices on multiple items in multiple countries, rather than just having huge price rises just in the US.
 
Woopah said:
It will be interesting to see the industry impact.

I know we were talking before about how a cheaper PS5 alongside the GTA launch could be big for 2025, but obviously that's gone out the window now.
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I never expected a PS5 price drop before GTA6 released. I've held pretty firm that I thought the first price drops would happen in 2026 and now I'd say the earliest I would really expect them is holiday season 2026.

I think Sony's forecast for the year just got massively reduced, which might be the only reason they don't increase the price in the US.

If they sold 18 million units last year WITH the launch of the Pro and the anniversary editions... They're in for a rough year even without a price increase. I think we're looking at 11-13 million units this year, unless they can capture some Xbox market share and even then you're only looking at a couple million more max.

But then you also know that 2026 is going to be a better fiscal year.

It'll be interesting to see if Sony tries to drop Venom into November, so close to Yotei or if the game will have been cancelled with the passing of Tony Todd and the strike and a focus on Wolverine. I could also see it ending up a Q1 game before GTA6 comes out. Then you have Saros and Wolverine coming out in the summer and fall respectively.
 
Might as well announce you are discontinuing the Series console at this point.
The one advantage they could still push was "value", sell the console for cheap and focus on Gamepass. With these prices though, I don't see why anyone would buy an Xbox now.

Ronin_7 said:
699$, 699€. No drive.

Fall 2029.
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At the rate we are going $699 will be the price of the base Ps5 by 2029
 
Fbh said:
Might as well announce you are discontinuing the Series console at this point.
The one advantage they could still push was "value", sell the console for cheap and focus on Gamepass. With these prices though, I don't see why anyone would buy an Xbox now.



At the rate we are going $699 will be the price of the base Ps5 by 2029
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The Series S is still below $400 if you want a current gen console, post tariff. It will undoubtedly sell less but Sony hasn't announced how tariffs are going to impact PS5s. As they are in a weaker financial position I expect the PS5 price to be $649 by this month.
 
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Astray said:
The reason this is happening is because the current gaming environment is massively deflationary to revenues.

Like consider that digital games have made it incredibly easy and cheap to "create" copies of your games and distribute them to willing customers, nowadays, a niche JRPG doesn't have to print like 50k disc copies and pray to hell that they distributed them correctly around the world so all the copies go to customers that want them.

Dev tools have become ubiquitous and largely unified, a 30-something team can create a game that is just as graphically-leading as something a 1000-man studio can do.

So if you want to make a game you can just make it and submit it to a digital platform and it's there for ppl to buy. This has resulted in a massive, MASSIVE increase in the supply of games, and game pricing is clearly being affected by it. Look at big corporations doing %30-40 price cuts mere months after a game is out.


People have been consistently "warning us" of how PS6 was gonna cost $800 and games will reach $80 if Xbox exits the race.

Now we are in a reality where this is not only happening while Xbox is around, but Xbox is the one doing the massive raising first too.

Hilarious when you think about it.

If I was Sony, I would honestly see how much I can stay without raising prices.

But who knows what Totoki and Nishino think?
Click to expand...

Unlike Microsoft, Sony needs a healthy console hardware business to stay successful, they have hardware sales target to reach and they'll do what it takes to reach them.
That's also why the official MSRP isn't that important anymore, Sony does periodic promotions when it's needed to sell more consoles to meet internal sales target, no one in Europe buys PS5s at the official price at this point for example.

Sony has no issues with increasing prices if necessary but the bottomline is that they'll always be concerned by global sales in doing so.
Microsoft is moving away from that, they can afford to keep Xbox as an option while their focus is on being a huge publisher.
The message from them to third parties is already clear, PC is the next Xbox, don't count on Xbox anymore to sell software.
 
memoryman3 said:
The Series S is still below $400 if you want a current gen console, post tariff. It will undoubtedly sell less but Sony hasn't announced how tariffs are going to impact PS5s. As they are in a weaker financial position I expect the PS5 price to be $649 by this month.
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Now it's better to pay $20 more for the ps5 slim digital with astrobot for $400 LOL.
 
scydrex said:
Now it's better to pay $20 more for the ps5 slim digital with astrobot for $400 LOL.
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You're assuming this price is going to hold for more than a few weeks. With tariffs everyone's bill of materials have gone up dramatically, and Sony are still losing money on the hardware itself as of late 2024. $400 for a PS5 with 60%+ tariffs will bleed the company, especially if it sells to casuals that don't buy more than one or two games a year.
 
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memoryman3 said:
You're assuming this price is going to hold for more than a few weeks. With tariffs everyone's bill of materials have gone up dramatically, and Sony are still losing money on the hardware itself as of late 2024. $400 for a PS5 with 60%+ tariffs will bleed the company, especially if it sells to casuals that don't buy more than one or two games a year.
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Well I said now as of today. Not a few weeks later or next month. So right now the ps5 slim digital is better choice.
 
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justiceiro said:
I was wondering why doom the dark ages was showing up as a 79 euros purchase on steam. I guess I now know why.

That's one way to "raise" the value of game pass
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And it will have no impact on Gamepass subscriptions.

If Microsoft is truly deadset on making Gamepass a thing in the PC realm, then they need to dump a truck of money on Valve and make it an option in Steam. PC Gamers have made it clear that if it aint on Steam, people ain't buying.
 
Palis said:
Real question: Does this push you more towards PC gaming or will you stay on console still?
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No but money was never an issue when it comes to PC gaming. I just can't stand gaming on a PC. I'd pay more for a console than a gaming PC just cause it's much easier to use.
 
This is probably the best generation yet. There is something poetic about seeing Microsoft constantly fuck themselves.
 
mayham2199 said:
No but money was never an issue when it comes to PC gaming. I just can't stand gaming on a PC. I'd pay more for a console than a gaming PC just cause it's much easier to use.
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That's the same thing for me, used to be a PC gamer but now every time I try to game on PC I just end up going back to console. It's a shame because I kinda hate not being free & also know that in 10 years the next console is probably not gonna play my PS4 game, or not being able to get some indies that are not on PS5. But at the same time, I've also been playing on console for years now so it'd be annoying to lose my games, trophies, progression and also being hassle-free...
 
Palis said:
That's the same thing for me, used to be a PC gamer but now every time I try to game on PC I just end up going back to console. It's a shame because I kinda hate not being free & also know that in 10 years the next console is probably not gonna play my PS4 game, or not being able to get some indies that are not on PS5. But at the same time, I've also been playing on console for years now so it'd be annoying to lose my games, trophies, progression and also being hassle-free...
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Yea I've gone back and forth but was a PC gamer for a very long time. Then went to consoles when my PC died. Tried to go back to PC gaming and it worked for a while but once the PS5 started getting 60 FPS modes consistently I switched back to consoles and haven't looked back. There are some issues like you said. My main one is trying to go back and play old games I missed is impossible cause most are stuck at 30 FPS. I've done it once for KCD and that's it. Even then I basically just rushed through the game just to get an idea of the main story.
 
I'm done with console gaming. Never would I have ever thought that nearly five years into a generation would the price of the console and accessories go up! This is without a doubt the worst console generation. It's like they're trying to create another crash. Retro and PC gaming only for me from now on.
 
f901LCU.jpeg


This twat's avatar matches their personality perfectly, in the worst of ways (they've been going full-tilt 'Sony Too™' and using that to cope about the Xbox price increases. Also calling anyone disagreeing with them a console warrior 😂).
 
Dural said:
I'm done with console gaming. Never would I have ever thought that nearly five years into a generation would the price of the console and accessories go up! This is without a doubt the worst console generation. It's like they're trying to create another crash. Retro and PC gaming only for me from now on.
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First Gen since NES era I have not bought a console. Just PC only. WAS going to buy one for GTA6, now its delayed till who knows when (not May 26, 2026)

There is no MAJOR console exclusives that I feel the need to rush out and buy one this gen
 
CrimsonTide said:
First Gen since NES era I have not bought a console. Just PC only. WAS going to buy one for GTA6, now its delayed till who knows when (not May 26, 2026)

There is no MAJOR console exclusives that I feel the need to rush out and buy one this gen
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Had a Series X, downgraded to a cheap marketplace S that was basically included as a bonus with controllers I needed for PC. Was gonna get PS5, everything went PC anyway, only thing I'm really missing is Astrobot. I'm swimming in all the same games and it saved me two consoles, so I mean...great.

After Switch 2 I'm done with hardware for an eternity. I might not even care again until things I have start physically breaking.
 
reinking said:
Xbox is set to go third-party and get out of consoles just as console prices are going to get too high for the masses. Add to that, they offer Game Pass on other devices as an alternative to pay an outrageous price for a console. Microsoft being "forced" out of the console space is playing right into Microsoft's plans.
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Very interesting take.
 
Thyuda said:


Just blaming tariffs for this is incredibly short sighted. Tarrifs play a part, as they should (China needs to be challenged, Trump's doing it with a crowbar and there might be more elegant ways go go about that but he's right when it comes to China), but this is largely corporate greed, being in bondage to unsustainable, infinite growth and the shareholders and the signature MS ignorance of the reality of the market. Gaming is a luxury good, people and corporations tend to forget that, but luxury goods are the first to go if money's tight.
The industry is going to learn that very quickly.
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And these companies knew this, which is why they're taking advantage of the narrative situation.
 
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Mibu no ookami said:
It'll actually be very interesting to see if there is pushback on 80 dollar CoD...

Again, this is why you should always be creating good games, because you never know when a competitor will shoot themselves in the foot and give you an opening, but if you're not prepared to take it... your window closes.

Where is Battlefield? If I'm EA, I'm putting all my eggs in the basket to get Battlefield out in as good a condition as quickly as possible and definitely before the end of October.
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EA is doing that. Battlefield should be out within 9 months I think.
 
Thyuda said:
The industry is going to learn that very quickly.
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No it won't lmao. The only thing anyone's going to learn is that online outcry doesn't represent what happens in real life. I'm surprised people haven't learned that already.

Prices will go up, whether it's because of tarriffs or greed, and the new generation of consoles will still shatter records. GTA VI might end up costing $100 and it'll still go on to become the best selling game of all time.

All the talk you see online about being priced out of the hobby, about how people are going to cut back spending on new releases, always ends up amounting to nothing in the real world. Preorders for the $1,000 PS6 will sell out in seconds.
 
Mibu no ookami said:
It's going to have a terrible Holiday quarter even worse than the previous one... It'll be a surprise if they sell more than 2 million units this whole year...
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No way they sell 2 million Xbox Series consoles this year. That's just too low. That'll be a 50% drop.
 
pasterpl said:
$999 launch price for next gen in 2026/27 will be not that surprising.
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Everyone will accept it when it's happens too. Console tam may reduce overall but we will see more cross gen than ever and new games costing a fortune to buy due to the reduced install base and profiteering.
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
f901LCU.jpeg


This twat's avatar matches their personality perfectly, in the worst of ways (they've been going full-tilt 'Sony Too™' and using that to cope about the Xbox price increases. Also calling anyone disagreeing with them a console warrior 😂).
Click to expand...

I thought the purples were swearing against anything Microsoft these days anyway.

dem success GIF
 
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