Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass Price to Increase in Most Markets - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 July 2023 / 7,071 Views
Microsoft is increasing the price of the Xbox Series X and Xbox game Pass in most markets, as reported by The Verge.
The price of the Xbox Series X will remain unchanged in US, Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia, while Xbox Game Pass price will remain the same in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia. There will be no price hike on the Xbox Series S in any market.
The Xbox Series X price increase is mainly inline with the price hike Sony did for the PlayStation 5 last year. The Xbox Series X price will increase to £479.99 in the UK, €549.99 in most of Europe, $649.99 CAD in Canada, and $799.99 AUD in Australia starting on August 1.
Xbox Game Pass for Console and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will see a price increase starting July 6. Xbox Game Pass for Console will increase from $9.99 a month to $10.99 a month, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase from $14.99 a month to $16.99 a month.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers with recurring payments won't see the price increase until August 13 or September 13 in Germany. New Game Pass subscribers will see the price increase on July 6. If you are subscribed with a yearly code, the new price won't happen until it is time to renew.
This is the first time Microsoft is increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass, which launched in 2017.
"We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market," said Kari Perez, head of communications for Xbox, in a statement sent to The Verge.
Perez added, "These Game Pass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal, and are intended to match local market conditions."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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This entire new console generation seems to just be going backwards in so many ways. Nintendo was making a profit on the Switch since day one, so they haven't needed to raise the price of the Switch, or for that matter, lower the price AT ALL over 6 years into the Switch's life cycle lol.
Console price is one thing, but Xbox can't raise the price of GP too much before they start losing subscribers. It's not a huge raise now, but those little by little increases will get many to start doubting if the cost is worth it over time.
Problem is that Phil said a few times before that prices wouldn’t go up, especially when people are doing bad financially, he assured on March this year that prices of GP won’t go up, then we’re here.
All companies are greedy, but Phil shouldn’t be giving mixed messages.
And you can find this quote to prove your point? As the most recent quote is actually: "Game Pass will not increase its price as a result of the purchase of Activision Blizzard".
Phil said prices wouldn't go up through "holiday" 2022. And they kept that promise, it's now the middle of 2023. How is that a mixed message?
Always said it was going to increase and will again eventually.
Strongly disagree with this decision
Well to me the factors at play is. "Sony done it so can we". The is no other factor imo. Nothing has changed for MS from last year, Pretty much they planned on raising the price all along when Sony done it but they wanted to wait a bit longer to try get good PR. I honestly thought Ms was not going to raise the price of their console since they are in 3rd place and need all the good pr they can get. But lets face it compared to last year when Sony raised the price things are clearly gone cheaper this year MS had no need for this other then greed.
For the console price, I mostly agree. To me it's not exactly a 'Sony done it so we can', it's more like a 50$ diff that was established as a result of Sony raising their own price is not affecting consumer behavior's in any measurable way. So following suit would reduce loss by units or maybe even established a small profit margin again with very little consumer behavior's change.
It's really unfortunate but not unprecedented, look at the shift in pricing strategy AMD adopted while competing with Nvidia. being cheaper had very little impact so they pretty much a match nowadays.
As for the GamePass, 1 raise in 6 years which is still way short of compounded inflation is not much concern to me. It still cheaper than in 2017 adjusted for inflation while having a much improved value proposition. Of course I would like it better if it did not raise but it's understandable here.
I Guess MS concluded such a small price diff had very little to no effect on consumer behaviors in this market. This is the same behavior AMD has been taking for years (since after the RX5xx gen), they stopped fighting on price. This is unfortunate.
For GamePass, this was foreseen, I already told so in the past and made the calculation. this $1/2 raise does not equate to compounded inflation since the 2017 introduction. (even if we assume a low 2% inflation (9.99*1.02^6 = 11.25))
Price increase for consoles just seems wrong. Prices should be going down at this point. The price increase for GP is at least expected, especially after 7 years.
Hold the line!! :)
More expensive for nothing to play!
Isn’t this usually around the time of a console generation they lower the price?
You would think!
Not if it's still selling out. I hardly see series X in stores
Series X isn't selling out anywhere I live. I see it on store shelves every time.
They are definitely shifting hardware though, it's trending above Xbox One/Xbox 360 as far as I am aware.
Unfortunately this is how subscription price increases start, one dollar at a time. I will not be surprised if they raise it by another dollar next year.
I remember when people were gleefully "cutting the cord" because cable had gotten too expensive and everything was on a duopoly of Netflix and Hulu. Then everyone started wanting to do their own thing, and now comprehensive streaming is getting as expensive as cable TV.
Game services are following the same trajectory.
Streaming could end up being the same price as cable and I'd still come out ahead. Cable wants me to sit down and watch 10 mins of commercials for a 20 minute show.
Streaming is on its way there, too. Most streaming services have ad-supported tiers that still require a monthly sub, and more will follow. Eventually, ad-supported streaming will become the standard. One of cable TV's initial draws was that it was ad-free in its early years. I'm old enough to remember ad-free cable.
And then it wasn't.
Yea but the difference is streaming lets you pay money to get away from the ads. I don't care about paying more. My time is more valuable than the money.
How much more? Because prices on the ad-free tier will rise much faster.
So much more that I would sooner cancel all of it and simply stick to my media server. I already have it download almost all my tv showsmovies but I still keep streaming around just cause I don't want to download everything. Somethings are one and done for me. I spend a whole weekend learning how to build and setting up my media server just to never be beholden to cable again.
This is a good reminder for everybody that can do so to stock up on three years right now.
Forget the price increase... why do they insist on saying "console" instead of "consoles"? Truly bizarre lol
That's a fair point, and it makes sense, but there was a precedent. So why change it now? And further, saying PC was always technically wrong, so why change to the "wrong" tense? It was never for personal computer. It was for personal computers. Just as a game is for consoles, not console... unless you're talking about a game that is only going to come out on ONE console, but then, you'd have to add an "a" in there, otherwise it too would be wrong lol.
mine runs out next month ive always just stacked few years of gold and converted it
Me too. I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to pay full price. I have about 2 years left right now, on my second three year stack. So that'll have been something like 6 years that I got for an average price of about $50 per year. I don't know if I'm going to be able to pay $200 per year for the service, if that day ever comes.
3-4 minutes a day gets me enough Microsoft Rewards that I can renew my Game Pass, with lots extra for getting gift cards. And that's after-tax money. Working your regular job means you pay taxes on your income (in most jurisdictions), and then have to renew Game Pass out of whatever is left. So I actually think Microsoft Rewards are a better deal, once you're experienced at it and can do it lightning fast each day.
And it's not an either/or, you can do both.
And you don't generally have the option to go to work for 3-4 extra minutes each day, and be paid an extra 5.8% of an hour's pay. :)
Damn greedy Sony.
Idk how this is supposed to be a slap on MS since they're copying what Sony has already done lol. I don't like any of it. Console prices are supposed to go down with time. Years later, they're going up across the board.
I'm not going to lie, you made me chuckle out loud. :D
At least one of the markets not getting Series X price increases already had a Series X price increase (Japan), didn't it? So that leaves only the US, Chile, Brazil, and Columbia still selling the Series X at its launch price.
One thing Microsoft is doing better than Sony here, is giving people several weeks to grab systems and pad their Game Pass before the price increase. In Japan Sony telegraphed its price increase like Microsoft is doing here, but if memory serves in all other markets Sony's price increase took immediate effect.
Yep I believe you are right on the countries still having the same price (although it is quite common for some stores to have a markup above MSRP on Series X - if the launch price was the same as PS5, I'm not sure - PS5 have been usually a 5% lower than MSRP for some months now).
You supported Sony for increasing their prices claiming its on the economy. So i guess that justifies Xbox to, right?
You are still on the same wrong page for about a year. Never supported and never will, what I did and have repeated to you all times because you seem to have a bad memory was explain the reasons for why they increased the price and their justification not my agreement. I also exposed why the price hike wouldn't affect me much (because most of the games I buy second hand for severe cut, like 10 to 20, a very selected few I pay full price for day one). But you were certainly bashing Sony in the past but here trying to deviate the point.
Don't pretend you were not defending the decision. You were trying your best to justifying the price hike on Sony's behalf. I don't agree with any company raising the prices period.
Are you going to make the same claims to justify Xbox's decision? Clearly it wont affect you because you don't buy Xbox products. It doesn't affect Sony either because Sony already raised their prices first and set the price standard this gen and pushed that narrative.
I don't need to pretend anything, my phrases were clear. You otherwise is also very clear but on the other direction.
You cannot justify one brand for doing it than act like its bad when another does it. Thats the issue here.
Its a typical thread on this website. Its okay and justified if Sony does it but horrible if Xbox or Nintendo do it.
Did I said anywhere here that it is bad? I mocked it, because when Sony done it was greedy Sony, now MS is doing all the same. You are triggered. Just that.
You were in everythread trying to justify Sonys decision. Now you are mocking others for doing it. Thats the issue. No body wants price hikes, its all for greed, nothing more.
FWIW, I don't recall @DonFerrari supporting the price hikes. I do recall him saying that it could be explained by changes in currency exchange rates, but that's not the same as him being stoked about it. I may have missed some of the comments you're thinking of, but that's my recollection, for what it's worth to you.
This sucks. Ill say the same thing i said when Facebook done it with the Quest 2 and Sony done it with the PS5 and now MS. Them companys are well able to eat that 50 euro increase. This is the first gen in console history afaik that prices have went up instead of going down. And inflation and shit is no excuse from fans. We are not talking about some mom and pop type company's here that's barely getting by. We are talking about billion euro company's. Look i expected the price of gamepass to go up at some point just like anyone with common sense would. But upping the price of the console F that shit.
It's not the first time a game console has gone up in price (the PS4 went up in price, in some markets at least). But this is the first time they've been so broad based, and so late into the generation.
I don't like the console price increase either. My guess is Microsoft is also putting all their games on PC, so they don't find it desirable to lose money on consoles anymore. They're shooting for break-even.
So I don't like it. But I don't find it greedy to not want to lose money on something.
And so judgement comes to those who thought that they were already in heaven!
Paradise with cheap game pass no longer.
still looks pretty cheap to me, and it still cheaper than in 2017 when adjusted for inflation all the while the value proposition have greatly increased.
Game Pass is still free for those willing to spend 3-4 minutes a day earning enough Microsoft Rewards to renew their subscription.
I understand a price increase for hardware, but not for a digital service.
Games cost more to make? They have to pay more for games they add to the service? Games went up from $60 to $70 so the games included in the service would cost more if purchased separately? The service has gone from over 100 games to over 500 games?
Not a fan of this decision at all. X will probably keep selling out quickly regardless as demand for it still far exceeds supply. But that Gamepass price increase doesn't feel right at all. Sure it's only $1 a month higher, but that is how it started for Netflix too, until 2014 Netflix was $8 a month for the standard sub, then they raised it to $9 in May 2014. Now they have managed to raise the price for the standard sub all the way up to $15.49 per month, doing it in small $1 or $2 increments each time. They have managed to nearly double the price of their standard sub in a decade by drip feeding the increases to us, and I definitely worry that Xbox will attempt to do that here as well.
I'm not sure demand exceeding supply applies much outside the US. With a quick search I was able to find it in stock online in many european countries. Honestly I think this is a dreadful decision in regards to console sales, the slighly lower price made it a bit more competetive in PS dominated markets and even with that it hasn't been doing too hot this year, now it's hard to see how it will improve. Also seems like bad timing with Starfield around the corner, anyone who knows the price has been lower will be at least a little hesitant to pick up a system now.
I would say even here in the U.S. demand is not exceeding supply. It is not too difficult to find a Series X in my area (I live in the east coast), and no I'm not saying that as a put down on the system.
We can see by the sales numbers that Series isn't doing hot anywhere basically.
We can see by the sales numbers that Series isn't doing hot anywhere basically.
You don't consider Series consoles currently millions ahead of the 360 "hot"?
1 million or so ahead is not that hot.
Where’d you get that figure from? Millions would be at least 2 million though xD
What do you consider hot then? The 360 sold over 80 million units, which isn’t a slouch.
My mistake I read that it was against Xbone.
Yet to be seen, but 360 had some legs
Same timeframe X1 was likely still ahead of X360. Considering MS isn't saying Series is tracking ahead of X360 it likely already dropped behind it.
Sorry if 25% drop YoY doesn't make me think the console is hot.
GamePass probably loses them a lot of money. Now that it is not growing/they are not dominating the market like they planned. They are raising prices to make a profit.
Microsoft is so dead, and this is coming from a formerly huge fan of the company. They can't do anything right.
Nobody was buying it before, and they massively raised the price in Canada even more? Dead. The Series S Black announcement was crazy toneless and deaf. They also raised the Game Pass price BEFORE anyone got any of the games announced 3 years ago for the console. Not one next gen came out of any quality, was hoping for Starfield, but now I won't play it on Xbox.
Compare Microsoft's joyless commitment to gaming compared to Nintendo today. I sold my Series X and I don't regret it.
At this point we have Sony for decent hardware and Nintendo for fun family games, and Microsoft has no place.
There is nothing like continued growth year to year to show how dead they are!
Do you actually read this website? VGCHARTZ? Xbox sales were listed as down 25 percent this year compared to last year.
Do you care to give us those numbers? MS only give the REVENUE of Xbox department, not profits of their console or games or subs number or sales number for that matter.
Heres a quote for you from this month from Phil "Xbox Game Pass and the Xbox business as a whole are both profitable for Microsoft"
You said they are making more profit every year, he saying it is profitable doesn't prove what you are saying.
You think a company would greenlight a spending of over 70bn on a division that doesn't show growth in the profits department? I get you are desperate for negative MS news but this is just hilarious.
If they see the prospect of bigger profits latter on they certainly can accept losses on the short term. Unless of course you think those 1 USD deals were profitable.
You are using one aspect of a specific time this year that sales were down to say, "OMG Xbox is dead." It's become clear that Series X consoles have continued to have shortages for some reason or another, and this was confirmed to be the case via Phil say, "We are increasing production of Series X consoles" during the showcase. We also can see sales for Xbox have increased in the last month or so which kind of reinforces this.
Maybe it's the truth to you because that's how you see it, but it's not reality.
oh lord... now the excuse is Microsoft has shortages, in May 2023? no
It's not only about console sales. Xbox is an entire ecosystem.
I don’t like the game pass price rise, but it’s understandable.
The positives are that it’s not that much a rise, it’s still easily the best deal in gaming, & it’s not a coincidence that when big 1st party games ( like Starfield ) will start appearing on GP, the new price rise will take effect.
When their end goal is achieved imagine what will they do .
End goal is to eliminate playstation, exposed by stephen tottilo.
They are going to come at you with but but the email happened in 2019 and it doesn't mean anything. blah blah blah.
Yeah, and they were laughed out of court despite this "evidence" that was seen by the FTC/CMA/EC/SAMR and the presiding Judge and no one has brought it up once lol. You're absolutely right. It doesn't mean anything.
You mean the Sony backed gamers lawsuit that already got laughed out of court once and are now on appeal trying everything in their legal power to twist an email that is redacted and can't even read themselves other than the FTC/CMA/EC/SAMR and the Judge, who all have seen but haven't brought it up once? Yeah, nobody except yourself is buying that lol.
These "gamers" will get laughed out of court. Again. Don't buy everything you read.
Stephen who?
It's a matter of supply and demand. If the price is too high, then people won't buy it and the price will eventually decrease.
Companies are driven by profit and supply & demand. They are not greedy when they increase prices, nor they are altruistic when they cut prices.
fuck work I'm off to the Pub. some ones got to keep this economy going.
