Xbox has enjoyed a few years of pretty good press, being able to market its consoles — particularly the Xbox Series X — as a more affordable gateway into the current generation of gaming than its competitor Sony’s PlayStation 5. Indeed, much was made last summer of Sony’s long-rumored price hike on its console in most regions, while Microsoft seemed to weather the storm a little better. But the longer-term impacts of the pandemic, supply chain issues, and other problems appear to be catching up with the company, as prices for its Xbox Series consoles appear to be starting to rise this year.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had already hinted towards the end of last year that a price hike would come to the Microsoft console sometime in 2023, and some regions are already feeling the pinch. India saw its second price rise in six months earlier in January, and according to a comment released to Famitsu today, Japan will be the next to face higher prices for the consoles. From February 17, Japanese Xbox fans can expect to pay 5,000 yen more for the Xbox Series X or Series S, up to 59,978 yen ($460) and 37,978 yen ($291) respectively.
There’s little reason to believe that the rising prices will stop at Japan and India. Though Microsoft has been coy about announcing its plans for price increases, chances are good that similar regions to Sony’s hikes will be affected over the course of the year — namely Europe, the UK, China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada, along with Japan and India.
The United States was spared the worst of Sony’s raised prices last summer, but as ever there’s no guarantee that the same will hold this year. In other words, anyone who’s thinking about buying a current-gen console should consider doing so now, or they might end up paying more than they bargained for.
