An Xbox Series X price increase has hit Sweden, less than one month after the console saw a price hike in Japan. Following the PS5 price hike, this may not bode well for gamers across other regions.
Microsoft has quietly bumped up the price of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles on its Swedish store (spotted by gamingdeputy). The Xbox Series X price has been increased by an extra SEK500 (approx £40 / $48 / AU$70) now costing Swedish gamers SEK6195. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series S has gone up by SKR300 (approx £24 / $29 / AU42).
This comes three weeks after Microsoft announced that Xbox consoles would see a price hike in Japan. Both systems got a 5,000 yen increase (approx £30 / $37 / AU$54) which went into effect on February 17. Microsoft has not commented on whether other price increases will come into effect in other regions.
Last August, Jim Ryan confirmed that PS5 consoles were getting a price hike in select regions in PlayStation Blog post. A month later, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in a CNBC interview (via @asiasquawkbox) "In a time when our customers are more economically challenged and uncertain than ever, we don't think it's the right move for us at this point to be raising prices on our consoles".
However, a month later in October, Spencer mentioned at the Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference (via The Verge) that he doesn’t think Xbox will be able to hold the price on its consoles forever, but that he thought it was important to maintain prices for the holiday season.
Loss Leader
During that same Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference, Spencer admitted that Xbox consoles are sold at a loss “somewhere between $100 and $200”. Microsoft confirmed back in May of 2021 during the Epic Games vs Apple trial (via Protocol) that the company has never sold an Xbox console at a profit – that's not just the Xbox Series X|S; it applies to every single Xbox console.
Clearly Microsoft has never been too bothered about selling its consoles a loss, so why bump up the price now? Jim Ryan cited the “current global economic environment” as the factor behind the PS5 price hike, and Sony confirmed at an earnings briefing that the PS5 disc consoles had only just stopped losing money in August 2021, as reported by Bloomberg (via TechRadar).
Xbox Series X getting a price increase to match the price of the PS5 may not seem like a huge deal, but when you consider the value in owning each system, it becomes a bit of a head scratcher. It’s no secret that PlayStation has been demolishing Xbox when it comes to exclusive titles for some time now.
While Xbox is beginning to make a splash again thanks to its Bethesda acquisition, is that enough to justify dropping almost £500 if the price hikes hit the UK? Especially since Xbox Game Pass and every Microsoft Game Studios title makes its way to PC day and date with console.
