Phil Spencerthe CEO of Microsoft Gaming, stated that Xbox avoided as long as possible of raise prices, but eventually had to give in to be able to support the sector and counter the increase in costs. The new price also “reflects the content, scale and technical complexity” of the new games.
Microsoft recently announced that the price of triple A games from Xbox Game Studios will go from €70 to €80. Spencer was inevitably called upon to speak on the subject in an interview with the Second Request podcast.
Spencer: “Price is something we always look at given the impact it has on our customers. There are many things about our platform that we need to put a price on. Of course there’s the price of the consoles, the price of the games and the ‘subscription. Given the current economic situation, something we had to adjust to continue running the business considering the increase in costs we have had.’
The first game to be priced at €80 was Take-Two’s NBA 2K21. Then followed Activision, Sony, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Square Enix, with the latter also raising the prices on PC. Now it’s Microsoft’s turn.
Spencer explained that the price increase will be for games tripla A bigger ones, like Starfield, and recalled how Microsoft wasn’t the first to follow this path: “In fact, other publishers and other platforms have already announced and implemented increases.”
“We held on as long as we could and are still proud that our subscription is priced where it is, that Series S is the lowest priced current generation console on the market.” The choice of price increase therefore fell first on games, in order to ensure that they can continue to be made (read: be more sustainable).
Interesting that Spencer does not mention the price of Xbox Series X among those left untouched. That Microsoft’s major console will soon undergo an upward touch-up?
