Xbox says Series X|S price point ‘will remain’, following PS5 increase

Microsoft tells VGC it is ‘constantly evaluating (its) business’ to offer consumers options

Reporting by Andy Robinson and Jordan Middler.

Microsoft has told VGC that the UK retail price for its Xbox consoles will remain the same, following a price increase announcement for PS5.

Following the news that the PlayStation 5 will see a price increase of up to 12.5% in numerous countries, VGC reached out to Microsoft as to whether the company would follow suit.

“We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options,” a spokesperson said. “Our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains from £249.99 and the Xbox Series X is from £449.99.”

This is the first time the company has spoken on the matter since declining to comment to Bloomberg earlier this year, when the publication asked the different console makers whether they planned to increase the price of their systems.

This comes in the wake of Sony announcing that effective immediately, the price of both the standard PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition will be raised in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia and North America.

However, there will be no price increase in the United States.

Sony says the price increase is due to high global inflation rates.

Responding to today’s news, Piers Harding-Rolls, Ampere’s research director for games, predicted that pent-up demand for Sony’s console means the PS5 price increase is likely to have “a minimal impact on sales”.

Last month, during its first quarter earnings call, Sony refused to be drawn on whether it would raise the price of the PS5 in the face of similar market pressures.

“About a potential price increase for the PS5, at this point in time there is nothing specific I can share with you about prices”, executive deputy president and chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said at the time.

Earlier this month Nintendo claimed that it doesn’t currently plan to raise Switch prices in Japan, despite a weak yen causing other tech companies like Apple to do so.

The company told Bloomberg that it wasn’t planning to make its hardware more expensive, while Microsoft declined to comment.