Microsoft Raises the Price of All Xbox Series Consoles, Xbox Games Confirmed to Hit $80 This Holiday

Microsoft is raising prices on Xbox. By a lot.

In an announcement today, the company said it will be raising prices on Xbox consoles, controllers, headsets, and some games. The price hike for consoles and accessories kicks in today, May 1, and while game prices will stay the same for now, we should expect to see Xbox charging $79.99 for new, first-party games around the holiday season.

Price increases are taking effect globally, with the exception of headset prices, which are only going up in the U.S. and Canada.

The Best Xbox Game of 2024

It’s been a strange console generation for Team Xbox so far. It started during a pandemic and resulted in supply chain issues that made the Xbox Series X hard to get for months, the potential-killer-app launch title (Halo Infinite) suffered an embarrassing but much needed yearlong delay, Microsoft tried to buy Activision-Blizzard for SIXTY-NINE BILLION DOLLARS only to see regulatory agencies around the world challenge it before the deal ultimately went through, the company shipped one bona fide Game of the Year (Forza Horizon 5)and also started publishing its first-party games on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer even confirmed that a handheld Xbox is in the works, even if we might not see it during this hardware generation.

All the while, outside of a kickass 2021 that saw the release of the aforementioned Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 along with Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Tunic, Xbox players have been waiting (and waiting) for a steady flow of first-party games. And it was looking a bit bleak this year – again – with Avowed getting pushed to February 2025 and the potential-packed pixel-art indie action-adventure exclusive Replaced slipping out of 2024. But Microsoft turned in all its homework right as the bell rang at the end of class, with STALKER 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle all landing in the final six weeks of the year – and all three getting A’s on the assignment. Let’s discuss the honorable mentions, runners-up, and Best Xbox Game of 2024.>

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Dungeons of Hinterberg both just missed making the top of our list but are very worthy of honorable mentions. The psychologically focused sequel to Hellblade was the first-ever officially announced Xbox Series X game, and when it finally shipped this year, it can lay claim to at least one title: best-looking Xbox game ever made. Ninja Theory’s Unreal Engine 5-powered narrative-driven adventure is a technical showpiece, a powerhouse of pixels that leverages all 10.2 teraflops of power that the Series X is packing. It’s a bit light in the gameplay department – more akin to a walking simulator than a proper action-adventure – but it is nevertheless beautifully acted and stunningly presented. It’s very much worth taking the time to go on this journey with Senua.

Meanwhile, Dungeons of Hinterberg’s hooky concept – a European town becomes a hotspot for visitors to come and make friends and drink beers at night after a long day of monster slaying in the dungeons below – translates into a super enjoyable mix of action-RPG and social sim gameplay. Its comic book-style visuals only enhanced the entire experience. This was a refreshing summer release in a season where we typically complain about the lack of interesting new games to play. But this year’s virtual summer trip to Europe to crush a bunch of monsters and collect loot while chatting with the locals about it at the pub afterwards proved to be just the kind of vacation we needed.

It may not be an Xbox exclusive, but Microsoft owns Call of Duty now, and the biggest first-person shooter franchise in the world bounced back in a big way this year. And Xbox owners did get to play Black Ops 6 on day one via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so there’s that. <br><br>

More importantly, Treyarch, Raven, and the myriad Activision support studios that put in yeoman’s work on this series every year came together to craft the best single-player Call of Duty campaign in years. Historically underrated developer Raven understood that the key to a great Call of Duty campaign is variety, and in Black Ops 6 you get to do all kinds of incredibly fun stuff, from going undercover at a casino to freely roaming an open-world desert to hobnobbing at a Bill Clinton fundraiser and so much more. Its story doesn’t quite punch you in the face with a twist as good as Black Ops 1’s JFK moment, but it’s a damn fine story nevertheless that positively reinforces the excellent and unpredictable campaign gameplay. <br><br>

Add in a great, focused multiplayer mode and an excellent return of Zombies, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is one of the best overall gaming packages you can get in 2024.

The developers of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl went through a literal version of Hell on Earth in order to get this deeply personal game about their home country of Ukraine made after Russia invaded it midway through development. That it got done at all is an incredible testament to their perseverance and human spirit, and how lucky we are that they did finish it, because it is fantastic. (Side note: the 90-minute documentary about the making of this game is an incredible human story that’s well worth watching.

This first-person shooter sequel mixes punishing survival gameplay with brutal combat in a brooding sci-fi atmosphere to create a gameplay loop that feels refreshingly old-school yet delightfully new and modern all at the same time. Though its initial launch was marred by a host of technical issues, its fixes and updates came so frequently that it’s impossible to hold its launch day against it. And if you’re just jumping in now, you’ll only ever see the current, more polished version of the Exclusion Zone. Enjoy playing in the world it creates, as its developers clearly did when building it.

Going forward, here are the expected prices on various Xbox consoles and accessories in the U.S.:

• Xbox Series S 512 - $379.99 (up from $299.99)

• Xbox Series S 1TB - $429.99 (up from $349.99)

• Xbox Series X Digital - $549.99 (up from $449.99)

• Xbox Series X - $599.99 (up from $499.99)

• Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition $729.99 (up from $599.99)

• Xbox Wireless Controller (Core) - $64.99

• Xbox Wireless Controller (Color) - $69.99

• Xbox Wireless Controller - Special Edition - $79.99

• Xbox Wireless Controller - Limited Edition - $89.99 (up from $79.99)

• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Core) - $149.99 (up from $139.99)

• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full) - $199.99 (up from $179.99)

• Xbox Stereo Headset -$64.99

• Xbox Wireless Headset - $119.99 (up from $109.99)

You can see other price changes by region on the official Xbox announcement page here.

Microsoft issued IGN with the following statement as to why the price increases were taking place:

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”

First-party Microsoft games we can assume will cost $80 include the next mainline Call of Duty, the new Fable, which was recently delayed to 2026, the Perfect Dark reboot, inXile’s Clockwork Revolution, Rare's Everwild, which Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer recently checked out, The Coalition's Gears of War: E-Day, Hideo Kojima’s OD, and Undead Labs' State of Decay 3. Psychonauts developer Double Fine is also working on a new game.

Microsoft has an Xbox Games Showcase 2025 as well as an The Outer Worlds 2 Direct planned for June, where fans will no doubt find out more.

This is the first time we've seen a price hike on Xbox Series S consoles since it launched in 2020, with the company committing to maintaining existing prices back in 2022 when PlayStation raised prices on the PS5. However, Xbox raised the price on the Xbox Series X in 2023 in most countries, but not the U.S. And it has raised prices globally on Xbox Game Pass multiple times now.

Astonishing as the amount these prices are increasing might be, Microsoft raising prices in the first place isn't exactly surprising. PlayStation did this exact thing in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand just last week, for the second time in three years.

And the entire industry has been discussing and gradually implementing price increases over the last few years, with AAA game prices jumping from $60 to $70 in just the last five years, and Nintendo going with $80 for upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Mario Kart World and some other Switch 2 Edition games. The Switch 2 itself was recently revealed to be launching at $450, a price that drew criticism from Nintendo fans even as analysts admitted such a high price was likely inevitable amid current economic conditions.