Xbox Series X and S, Game Pass and Microsoft Game Prices Will Increase
Phil Spencer has admitted that Microsoft will be forced to raise the prices of its games, Xbox consoles and Game Pass subscription service.
Until now, Microsoft has avoided raising the prices of its consoles, games and services, but it is now known that this favorable situation will not last.
- In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Phil Spencer admitted that the prices of consoles, games and Game Pass service will be raised.
- He did not specify when this would happen. Spencer simply stated that Microsoft will try to keep prices low for as long as possible, but the company cannot do this indefinitely.
- Spencer stresses that the company will keep prices low until the end of this year's holiday season, so we can expect increases only in 2023.
Prices have already been raised by Sony, both of games as well as the PlayStation 5 console. So it makes sense for Microsoft to maintain lower prices until the end of the year, as it will enable the company to gain an advantage over the competition during the holiday season.
The trend is merciless, however, and Microsoft will have to follow it sooner or later. It does not only apply to consoles, by the way. Also the prices on PC are getting progressively bigger.
It is worth mentioning that Microsoft's revenue growth from its games division has slowed down significantly. The performance of subscription services, including Xbox and PC Game Pass, declined by 3%, despite a 159% increase in the number of subscribers to the latter version of the service.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Spencer also stated that Game Pass is profitable for the company and is growing rapidly on PC, but on consoles the increases are small. This is for a simple reason - most Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S owners who are interested in subscriptions are already paying for them. So it's not surprising that in order to maintain revenue growth, an increase in the monthly fee is in the plans.
