Not to say I called it or anything, but I did kind of call it a little. Emboldened by the Switch 2 and its frankly ridiculous price points for its games – and doubtlessly also by Sony following suit – Xbox has also announced a range of mid-generation price hikes for no particular reason, meaning that Nintendo has now officially made gaming worse for everyone. According to Xbox themselves:
As of May 1, we have adjusted recommended retailer pricing for our consoles and controllers worldwide. We also expect to adjust the pricing of some of our new, first-party games starting this holiday season to $79.99. Those titles purchased on the Xbox Store have the benefit of Xbox Play Anywhere, allowing players to buy once and play on console and PC at no additional cost.
We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.
$80 games are the norm now, it seems – the jump to $70 at the start of this generation feels like it was only yesterday, and things are likely going to get worse as the big three companies test out just what they can get away with. A new Xbox, meanwhile – and I use 'new' here loosely, because the hardware is five years old by now – will run you a full six hundred dollars if you're living in the US. Maybe this was Nintendo's plan all along: keeping their spot as the 'budget' option by prompting an industry-wide price hike around them.
