In a truly bold business decision to sabotage itself, Microsoft is once again raising prices on its Xbox Series consoles. This isn’t a recycled story. They already raised the prices once in October of 2025. They’re doing it again, starting this August 1st. We’re not talking about a small jump in price either. We’re talking an increase of anywhere from $100 to $150. All this for a console that’s going to be six years into its life cycle. Blame economic factors if you want (like Microsoft is), but this is f***ing ridiculous and will kill the Xbox brand.
The spin machine is already in full effect. Their official posting about the price hike conveniently doesn’t tell you the retail prices. It tells you what the price increase will be. Why? Because saying consoles will “increase by US$100 for 512 GB models and US$150 for 1 TB models” conveniently hides the truth of the matter. The only 512 GB model they sell is for the Xbox Series S. That’s the lesser-powered machine. That $100 price increase means it’ll run you approximately $500.00. But if you want the 1 TB Xbox Series X with a disc drive, that’s going to run you $800.00.
No wonder they didn’t put the pricing on the announcement. How easily are you going to swallow the idea of buying a six-year-old console for 800 goddamn dollars? Then, Microsoft has the gall to tell you that “Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make.” Sure, that’s true. And it’s true that the electronics industry is going through a supply crisis. But you know what, Microsoft is one of the 20 biggest companies on the planet. You, reading this, are not.
If Microsoft truly wanted to, it could shoulder the hit. The Xbox division may be losing money, but they could take the loss and still be making considerable profits elsewhere, like selling games. OH WAIT, THAT’S RIGHT, they’ve been kind of screwing that up royally too. The Xbox branding lost so much ground in the market during the PS4 era and even more in the current generation. If they tried to sell their first-party games just for their own consoles, the install base is so low that they’d still lose money. That’s one of the reasons they started releasing their games elsewhere. Now, even if they did try to walk that back, the install base is still too low. And it’s not going to get any bigger with price increases people can’t afford.
All of this is happening on top of Xbox reportedly looking to close studios they purchased. This is the kind of mismanagement that shows a baffling level of ineptitude. Industry experts and historians raked Sega over the coals for less than this. Microsoft is going to go the same way Sega did as well. They should not be in the console market. Whatever the upcoming “Project Helix” is supposed to be will not save them. Even if it is something that can play Xbox titles and have Steam access, what’s it going to cost? They’re already charging $800 for old hardware. What’s the new stuff going to cost? At that point in time, just buy a computer.
If Microsoft wanted to stand any chance of keeping its Xbox brand afloat, it would have to make massive changes immediately. It would have to make all of their games console-exclusive. We’re talking Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, Overwatch, Diablo; everything. Make it only available on Xbox machines and force people to buy the console if they ever want to play those games again. Of course, that doesn’t really work when you price your console so high that no one can afford it. Absolutely ridiculous.
Now, yes, to be fair, Sony and Nintendo have increased the prices on their consoles as well. But Nintendo only upped the Switch 2 by $50. And the Sony increase for the PS5 Pro shot it up to $900, but at least that console is only two years old and has a 2 TB hard drive. That’s an absolute steal next to the Xbox Series X. No one should get off the hook entirely for passing these costs down to the consumer. All three of these corporations, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, are way more equipped to handle the economy than you are. But Sony and Nintendo can still make gaming worth your while; Microsoft just can’t.
