The world is going through a difficult economic scenario. This, of course, is affecting multiple industries. Among them is technology, as several companies have been forced to raise the prices of their products due to inflation and constant changes in the value of currencies. Sony, for example, had to increase the cost of the PS5, and Microsoft is likely to follow the same path with Xbox services and consoles.
Although those from Redmond said at the end of August that they did not contemplate a price increase in the Xbox Series X | S, today their speech changed slightly. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Which collects Tom WarrenPhil Spencer, head of Xbox, warned that There will come a point where the company will not be able to sustain current costs.:
“We’ve kept the price of our console, we’ve kept the price of games… and our subscription. I don’t think we can do that forever. I think at some point we’ll have to raise some prices on certain things…”
Be careful with the previous statement, because it not only anticipates a possible price increase in Xbox consoles, also on Xbox Game Pass. Since its launch, the service has distinguished itself for being an excellent proposal. Not only because of the large number of titles it offers, but also because of its low price. Today, there is no better video game subscription than Microsoft. Now, a hike in the monthly rate could change that perception in the blink of an eye.
Despite all of the above, Spencer also commented that, at least for the Christmas season – the most important in terms of sales for the video game industry – there will be no movement. “I think at some point we will have to raise the prices of certain things, but going into the holidays [de fin de año] We thought it was important to keep prices down.”
Will we see an increase in Xbox consoles and services next year? From the words of its director we can guess that it is. If materialized, Microsoft would be following in the footsteps of Sony and even Steam.
The move that those from Japan made is already well known. The PS5 went up in price at the end of August in almost the whole world, except the United States. In Spain it now costs €549.99 (previously €499.99) and €449.99 (previously €399.99), respectively for the standard and digital version. Mexico, for its part, saw an increase of $1,000 in each model, so now it is necessary to pay $14,999 and $12,499.
Regarding Steam, Valve raised the suggested prices of the games. Beyond adapting the current value of the US dollar, they also want developers not to have so many problems establishing costs based on the currency of each region.