xbox
Microsoft
Although Microsoft was happy to announce that there are currently no plans for an Xbox-related price hike. Even though Meta and PlayStation began raising the asking price of the hardware, the focus was on “existing” plans.
Now, in the face of a global recession and ever-increasing costs, Phil Spencer says price hikes will likely affect services like Xbox Game Pass and the Xbox consoles themselves. Here’s what he said at the latest WSJ Live event:
“I think at some point we will have to raise prices on some things, but with this holiday approaching, we thought it was important to keep prices. »
So there will be no last-minute holiday hikes, but it looks like 2023 will be fair game. But what exactly will this price increase look like? Well, we have a few examples to consider.
Speaking of the Xbox consoles themselves, we can take a look at the PS5 price increases that haven’t arrived in the US yet, but in most regions the price increase was the equivalent of 10%, or about $50 for consoles. . For some regions, depending on the currency, it was almost 25%.
So if Microsoft follows suit, that means the new Xbox Series S is $350, not $300. The Xbox Series X will cost $550, up from $500 previously. Again, Sony hasn’t raised prices in the US, and it’s not clear if Microsoft will. Microsoft already has enough problems in international markets that higher prices abroad can cause problems, so the situation may be slightly different. But overall, I doubt prices will go up by less than $50.
The image has been submitted to MICROSOFT. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, announced on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, about … [+]
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As for Xbox Game Pass, that’s a different story. While prices for Game Pass have remained locked in almost since its inception, as with all subscription services, they look set to change, especially in the current economic climate. Spencer recently confirmed that Game Pass accounts for 10-15% of Microsoft’s gaming revenue and is profitable, but what if… it’s more profitable? And then the price hike.
The Xbox Game Pass itself costs $10 per month. Game Pass Ultimate, which includes Xbox Live, costs $15 per month, though you can get discounts on bundles.
I think we can use Netflix as a point of comparison and I would go with Netflix’s “standard” price.
- November 2010 – $8
- May 2014 – $9.
- October 2015 – $10
- October 2017 – $11
- January 2019 – $13
- October 2022 – $16
So yes, the price of Netflix has almost doubled in just over a decade, although I’m guessing the amount of content on the service has grown a lot more. However, we can see that when prices rise, they happen gradually, like a frog slowly boiling in water.
I don’t expect a price increase of more than $1-2 for Xbox Game Pass, so maybe $12 on its own and $17 on Ultimate. I introduced a gigantic YouTube Premium increase that would increase the price by five dollars a month. Still, sticking with Xbox Game Pass for its price was a big selling point, even though we’re seeing these services start to work. Netflix went four years before its first notable price increase. Xbox Game Pass first arrived in 2017, so an increase in 2023 will be a longer wait, although Game Pass scope has clearly changed over time. However, rising prices after such a long time is not a huge shock. Let’s see how it goes next year, most likely.
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Take my sci-fi novels The Assassin Hero Series and The Earthborn Trilogy.