Earlier this year, Sony made the (understandably) unpopular decision to raise the price of the PS5 in a number of countries. Although the change wasn’t global, price tags in a number of places, including the UK, Australia, Japan and Canada were hit with significant mark-ups - in the UK, the Disc edition now costs £479.99 (up from £449.99), while the Digital edition is £389.99 (up from £359.99). The company explained that this was “a necessity given the current global economic environment”.
Up to this point however, Microsoft hasn’t followed suit - the price of the Xbox Series consoles has remained exactly the same as always. This is pretty surprising when, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, Microsoft loses up to $200 on each console sale (thanks, CNBC).
Before we get into it, check out this super-satisfying Xbox 360 restoration video below.
Speaking at WSJ Tech Live, Spencer revealed that the company subsidises the cost of each console by around $100 to $200, and basically expects to earn that money back via digital purchases and sales of accessories. Subscribing to Game Pass for long periods of time is good news for Microsoft, then.
During the same event, Spencer warned that price hikes could be on the way for Xbox users at some point in the future: “For us running the business, we have to look at the return on our business, the cost of the business,” he said. “We’ve held price on our console, we've held price on games […] and our subscription. I don't think we'll be able to do that forever. I do think at some point we'll have to raise some prices on certain things.”
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He clarified, however, that there are no plans to increase costs this holiday season, which could hopefully help out some families during what’s already a very difficult financial time.