Microsoft Increases Prices Globally for Xbox Consoles, Controllers, Headsets, and Games Due to Market Conditions and Development Costs

Okay, so here’s the thing about Xbox pricing—that pretty little price tag on your favorite gaming gear? Yeah, it just got a bit more… well, “ouch.” Microsoft decided that Thursday was a good day to spill the beans about cranking up the cost of, like, everything. Consoles, controllers, headsets—you name it. Apparently, some mysterious “market conditions” and sky-high dev costs are the culprits. So now, if you’re eyeing the Xbox Series X, brace yourself for a $599.99 hit. Controllers—$64.99. And if your eyeballs are set on a first-party game for the holidays, think $79.99. Yikes.

Oddly enough, Xbox Game Pass managed to dodge the increase. For now, anyway.

Microsoft threw this out there, “As of May 1, we’ve changed what we think you should be paying for our consoles and controllers. Oh, and starting this holiday, expect to see $79.99 for some first-party games.” Fun times, huh?

Let’s break it down—Xbox Series X with 1TB? A comfy $599.99, up by a hundred bucks. Fancy a 2TB SSD in Galaxy Black? You’re looking at $729.99—yep, $130 more than before. No Ultra HD Blu-ray drive? That’s a $100 increase to $549.99. And our budget buddy, the 512GB Xbox Series S? Now it’s $379.99, with the 1TB version at $429.99.

Prices aren’t just rising stateside, though. It’s hitting the UK, Europe, Australia—pretty much everywhere. The basic wireless controller is now $64.99, and if you fancy a wireless headset, that’s moved up to $119.99. The games we’ve been patiently waiting for this holiday? Now going for $79.99. It’s like Nintendo’s Mario Kart World pricing came knocking.

Microsoft’s saying trade policy mess and rising dev costs are partly to blame. How nice.

“We get it—these changes are tough,” Microsoft mumbled. “But hey, market conditions, and all. We’re still looking for ways to make gaming awesome across screens and keeping Xbox a good deal.”

In a surprise twist (or not), the Game Pass hasn’t budged for now—clearly, they know everyone’s still reeling from last year’s price hikes in 2024 and the small bump in June 2023.

Fancy keeping up with the wild ride of price tags and gaming storms? Follow Tom’s Hardware. Or y’know, just bunker down with the console you already have.