Fans React To Xbox Price Hikes And $80 Games

An Xbox Series X with 2TB of storage now costs more than a PlayStation 5 Pro. The next Call of Duty could be Microsoft’s first $80 game. Microsoft announced major price hikes for the entire Xbox ecosystem on Thursday and fans are in shock.

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” an unnamed spokesperson for the company told IGN. It’s not clear how much of the price increases can be blamed on tariffs in the U.S. versus Microsoft trying to capitalize on Nintendo’s high price for the Switch 2 and recently breaking the $80 seal with Mario Kart World. Microsoft declined to comment on whether prices might come back down in the U.S. if President Trump abandons his trade war with China.

The news led “thanks Nintendo” to start trending on X today as some people blamed the Switch 2 maker for getting the ball rolling on higher prices at the start of its next console generation, while others pointed out that the bulk of gaming price hikes in the U.S. from both companies are the fault of tariffs alone. It also seems like only a matter of time before Sony follows suit, though it recently confirmed Ghost of Yotei will remain $70 in an April blog post, with pre-orders set to begin on May 2. Will it change its mind or take the opportunity to have one of the more competitively priced blockbusters this holiday season?

The Xbox pricing changes are especially jarring for fans who have seen the PlayStation competitor more or less captivate this generation and seen Microsoft porting some of its biggest franchises to PS5 and Switch. Forza Horizon 5 just arrived there this week, plus Oblivion Remastered, Doom: The Dark Ages, and The Outer Worlds 2 are all day-and-date on multiple platforms. Once Halo, Gears of War, or Starfield make the jump, the prospect of paying $600 for a five-year old console with limited exclusives will be a tougher sell than ever.

Even before the Trump tariffs went into effect, the price of gaming has steadily risen throughout this console generation, due to inflation and ballooning game budgets. Sony had already raised the price of the all-digital PS5 by $50 and and subscription services like Game Pass have had multiple cost increases. It’s the first hardware cycle in memory where being there on launch day was actually cheaper than waiting a few years.

And what does that mean for the next Xbox and PS6? Will they be $600-700 at launch? Will new games cost closer to $100? Or will the higher cost of entry simply drive more players to cheaper alternatives like mobile and cloud gaming while sinking more time into free-to-play hangouts like Fortnite and Roblox?

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