Microsoft announced price increases for its consoles and Xbox games on Thursday, citing “market conditions” and growing production costs, which marks another important increase in price for video games after the tariffs of President Donald Trump after Nintendo announced that he would increase the prices of his newly released Switch 2 console.
Key data
The retail price recommended by Microsoft for its Xbox consoles will increase at least 20% for each version, according to an advertisement of the company on Thursday.
The cheapest Xbox console on the market, the S series with 512 GB of storage, will go from $ 299.99 to $ 379.99, a price increase of more than 26%, while the version with 1 TB of storage will rise from $ 349.99 to $ 429.99, an increase of more than 22%.
The price of Xbox Series X and Digital X Series will increase $ 100 each, the digital version of 449.99 dollars to $ 549.99, and the X series of 499.99 dollars to 599.99 dollars.
Microsoft said it will also increase the prices of some of its games to 80 dollars in time for the Christmas season, following Nintendo steps after the prices of some games to 80 dollars also increased in April, breaking the anterior standard of the 70 dollars industry for the games.
Microsoft did not mention Trump’s tariffs by name in his announcement, although he cited “market conditions” and “the growing cost of development” as reasons for price increase.
Large number
729.99 dollars. That is the new recommended sale price for Xbox’s most expensive model, the Xbox Series X Galaxy Special Edition of 2 TB, according to Microsoft’s announcement. The price increased more than 21% compared to its previous price of 599.99.
Key history
Nintendo surprised some video game fans in April by offering a higher price than expected for their new Switch 2 console, which is sold for a recommended sale price of 450 dollars, much higher than the 300 for which the original switch was sold in its launch in 2017. Most of the Nintendo switch consoles are produced in China, the largest tariff tariff tariff which also faced strong tariffs. Joost Van Dreunen, professor at the Stern Business School at the University of New York that teaches about the video game business, told Forbes that the tariffs affected Nintendo in a “vulnerable moment” in the midst of the launch of the Switch 2, stating that the tariffs were probably higher than the company expected.
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
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