Microsoft has significantly increased prices for its consoles, peripherals, and games. In some cases, the rise exceeded 25%

Microsoft Corporation announced a new pricing policy. According to it, global prices for all latest-generation Xbox consoles increased starting May 1. Additionally, prices for some games developed by Microsoft gaming studios will rise as the Christmas season approaches.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

To be more specific, according to the new price tags published by the company:

• the price of the Xbox Series S 512 reached $379.99 (an increase of about 26%);
• the price of the Xbox Series S 1TB reached $429.99 (an increase of about 22%);
• the price of the Xbox Series X Digital reached $549.99 (an increase of about 22%);
• the price of the Xbox Series X reached $599.99 (a 20% increase);
• the price of the Xbox Series X 2TB reached $729.99 (an increase of about 21%).

Price tags in Europe also changed, but not as significantly. While prices in the U.S. increased by an average of $100, in the Old World they went up by 50 euros. Considering that prices for more powerful consoles were previously higher in Europe than in the U.S., this can be seen as a partial adjustment.

We won't go into detail on controllers and headsets. The price increase doesn’t apply to all models, and where there is an increase, it is $10. Moreover, the cost of headsets specifically rose only in the U.S. and Canada.

More critically, Microsoft is also planning to increase the price tags on its games. According to a published statement, by Christmas, a number of new releases from the corporation’s internal studios will cost $79 per copy.

Let us recall that the $69 price tag for a AAA game became the standard just recently—in the second half of 2020. The first games sold at this price were NBA 2K21 from Take-Two and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War from Activision.

Analyst Daniel Ahmad believes that the main reason for the price increase is the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump:

• Xbox consoles are manufactured in China, and a 145% tax is applied when they are shipped to the U.S.;
  the goal of raising prices worldwide, not just in the U.S., is to offset the real price increase in the States (i.e., to prevent
• Americans from paying 145% more for the console, so that everyone in the world pays more);
• the increase in the cost of physical versions of games is explained by the same reason, as they are partially manufactured in Mexico.

Ahmad also noted that similar actions can be expected from Sony, as its products are subject to the same tariffs. As for Nintendo, it manufactures its consoles and cartridges in Vietnam, so it might not raise its previously stated prices.