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Microsoft has decided on another round of price increases for Xbox consoles. This time the changes affect Europe and the United Kingdom and are much larger than many gamers expected. The most expensive model, the Xbox Series X, now costs nearly €800, even though the console debuted almost six years ago. The manufacturer cites rising production costs and problems in the memory and storage markets as the reason. At the same time, questions are being raised about the price of the next generation of Xbox consoles. Everything suggests that future hardware could be even more expensive.
Microsoft explains price hikes as rising production costs
New Xbox console prices are already in effect in many European markets and in the United Kingdom. The Xbox Series S with a 512 GB drive now costs €499.99, while the 1 TB version is priced at €599.99. The digital edition of the Xbox Series X is €749.99, and the model with a disc drive now costs €799.99. In the UK, prices rose by £130 to as much as £170 depending on the console version. This is another increase after earlier changes in the United States, where prices went up by $100 to $150. Microsoft cites a sharp rise in the cost of memory and data storage. According to the company, prices for these components have already increased more than 2.5 times and could rise again by the end of 2027. Higher costs also include processors and graphics chips used in the new devices. All this is making console production increasingly expensive. Microsoft acknowledges that the current situation could also affect future devices. Rising component prices remain one of the industry's biggest challenges.
Project Helix could be even more expensive than current consoles
Rising prices of the current generation also raise questions about Microsoft's next console, known as Project Helix. According to available information, the device will use a new AMD chip and offer significantly higher performance and improved ray tracing. However, more advanced components will mean even higher production costs. An additional problem is the difficult situation of the Xbox division. In the last quarter, revenue from games fell by 10 percent and hardware sales declined by 13 percent. Over the entire fiscal year, console sales revenue was down as much as 29 percent. Microsoft also carried out a restructuring affecting about 3,200 employees tied to the Xbox brand. The company admits that the business's profitability remains lower than that of PlayStation and Nintendo. At the same time, Project Helix is supposed to deliver top performance while keeping an affordable price. However, current price increases could make achieving that goal very difficult. Many market observers are wondering how much the new generation Xbox will cost at launch.
Microsoft has significantly increased Xbox console prices in Europe, citing rising component costs. At the same time, the move raises concerns about the price of the upcoming Project Helix, which could end up being even more expensive than the current Xbox Series X and Series S models.
source: Digital Trends
