Featured Image Credit: Microsoft
Topics: Xbox, Microsoft, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
Xbox has confirmed another price hike taking effect in the coming months after already raising the price of Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox fans are getting increasingly sick of the gaming company exhibiting what can only be perceived as corporate greed, as prices increase without any real justification.
Add-ons like Fortnite Crew have been slapped on the highest tier of Xbox Game Pass which is great for those who play Epic Games’ battle royale but not so much for those who don’t, but still have to pay the price for it.
Now Xbox has announced another price increase, but this time for Xbox dev kits. Before, they cost $1,500 but going forward they’ll cost $2,000 instead.
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In a statement regarding the price hike Xbox/Microsoft said, courtesy of The Verge, “The adjustment reflects macroeconomic developments. We remain committed to providing high-quality tools and support for your development efforts.”
Now this doesn’t directly affect gamers like the Xbox Game Pass price hike did but it will affect developers, and in turn the gamers they develop games for.
Xbox has been heavily criticised over the years for its game library as first-party exclusives just haven’t been as good as that of Nintendo or PlayStation. What it did have going for it is third-party games but this price increase might see developers choose to make games for other companies instead.
This is especially true for indie game studios, who won’t have the kind of budget to splash around on $2,000 dev kits on top of all the other costs involved in making a game.
The news has been shared via several X accounts, and as expected fans have been very vocal about this decision as well.
YouTuber The Act Man was one of the top comments on this post by Wario64, saying, “Has there ever been a company that so methodically and intentionally sabotaged their own brand like Xbox? I feel like even Coca-Cola was able to recover from New Coke, and spin it as a positive but this is like... Burning all good will for no explicable reason. Outstanding.”
Another comment said, “I've heard of lowering the barrier of entry, but not raising it, this is a bold strat.”
In other news, Xbox has teased its next major console, promising it’ll be a premium piece of hardware.
This sounds good on paper but a console is nothing without an ace library of games to enjoy.