MICROSOFT has announced it will raise the price of first-party Xbox games to the same price as those for Sony’s PlayStation.
PlayStation kicked off the trend of selling games for £70 ($70) compared to £60 ($60) in 2020 with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Games will see a price increase across Microsoft products.
While Sony can only control the price of its first-party games, other publishers have followed suit, selling their games at the increased price point.
Now the same will apply to Xbox’s first-party games for the Series X|S in 2023.
Some of the first games that will sell at the increased price are Forza Motorsport, Redfall, and Starfield.
Xbox is often considered the budget option for gamers as not only were the games cheaper, but the consoles themselves are cheaper too.
However, comments from the Head of Xbox Gaming, Phil Spencer, revealed that the company was considering raising the price of its games and consoles.
Spencer said in October: “We’ve held [the] price on our console, we’ve held [the] price on games for us and our subscription.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to do that forever.”
A spokesperson for Microsoft told IGN: “This price reflects the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles.
“As with all games developed by our teams at Xbox, they will also be available with Game Pass the same day they launch.”
This comment suggests that Microsoft wishes to continue promoting Xbox Game Pass as the budget-friendly way for people to play games.
The new pricing certainly makes the subscription service more attractive to gamers who wish to play new games as soon as they release.
It could also encourage people to subscribe to the service in order to try out new games before they invest in a copy.
The higher price point is slowly becoming the standard for games, much like how prices were raised to £60 ($60) around the PS3 era.
It is unlikely that prices will drop again, as prices generally have increased in every industry.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
