Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Series X price increases coming soon

Microsoft is increasing the price of Xbox Series X consoles and the monthly price of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions soon.

As reported by The Verge, Microsoft will hike up the price of Xbox Series X consoles in most countries with the exception of the US, Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia. An Xbox Series X will now cost £479.99 in the UK (an increase of £30), €549.99 in most European countries, CAD $649.99 in Canada, and AUD $799.99 in Australia, starting August 1.

Microsoft to increase price of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Series X consoles soon

As for Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass for console pricing will go up starting July 6. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase from $14.99 / £10.99 / €12.99 per month to $16.99 / £12.99 / €14.99 per month.

The standard Xbox Game Pass subscription will also be increased from $9.99 / £7.99 / €9.99 per month to $10.99 / £8.99 / €10.99 per month. Microsoft will not be upping the price of a PC Game Pass subscription at this time.

According to The Verge, most markets will be hit by Xbox Game Pass price increases. However, prices for the standard version of Xbox Game Pass will remain the same in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia.

Kari Perez, head of communications for Xbox, told The Verge, “We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market.”

Following the news that Sony had increased the price of the PlayStation 5 in specific markets, Xbox boss Phil Spencer did hint that price increases were coming. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Spencer said, “We’ve held price on our console, we’ve held price on games and our subscription. I don’t think we’ll be able to do that forever.”

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments.