Price increase also for first-party Xbox games announced by Microsoft, which thus follows in the footsteps of Sony and PS5.
Microsoft has announced that it will raise the prices of first-party Xbox games, thus aligning with the same amount requested by Sony for PlayStation ones. PlayStation started the trend, placing its prices on $70, equivalent to 80 euros in Italy, already in 2020 with Final Fantasy VII Remake, and in the summer PS5 saw its price rise by another 50 euros. While Sony can only control the price of its first-party and/or exclusive titles, other publishers have followed in its footsteps, aligning themselves with the new price point: among these, in the recent past, also players like Ubisoft.
What will be the first Xbox games to increase in price? —
Now the same will be true for first-party games coming to Xbox Series X|S from 2023 onwards. Some of the first games that will suffer the impact of the increased price will therefore be Forza Motorsport, Redfall and Starfield. Xbox is often touted as the cheapest option on the market, not just for the games themselves, but for next-generation consoles as well. However, recent comments from Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, had revealed how the company was considering such a move. “We kept the price on our console, we kept the price on the games for us and for our subscription,” he explained in October. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do this forever.”
The statement –
“This price reflects the content, scale and technical complexity of these titles,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a conversation with IGN. “As with all games developed by our teams at Xbox, they will also be available with Game Pass on the same day of launch.” This comment seems to suggest that Microsoft wants to continue promoting Xbox Game Pass as its budget-friendly gaming solution. The new pricing certainly makes the subscription service more attractive to gamers who want to play new titles as soon as they’re released. It could also encourage players to subscribe, so they try out new games before they invest in a physical or digital copy. Higher prices are slowly becoming the norm in video games, similar to when they went from $50-€60 to $60-€70 in the PS3 era. They will hardly decrease in the future, also in consideration of the fact that costs have increased in almost all other industries.
Written by Georgina Young for GLHF
© breaking latest news