The news of the day in the video game industry has been, without a doubt, the rise in prices of the PS5 in various territories of the world; Spain and Mexico among them. The adjustment has obviously caused criticism against the Japanese company, but also concern that Microsoft and Nintendo could follow the same path with the Xbox Series X | S and Switch, respectively. After all, inflation is affecting the entire tech sector.
However, at least in Microsoft’s case, there are no plans to raise the cost of the Xbox Series X|S anytime soon. In a statement collected by Windows Centerthose from Redmond point out that will maintain current prices worldwide.
“We are constantly evaluating our business to offer great gaming options to our fans. Our suggested retail price of the Xbox Series S remains at $299 (€300 in Spain), and the Xbox Series X at $499 (€500). they said.
So if you still don’t have the opportunity to purchase an Xbox Series X|S, but plan to do so within the next few months, you can rest easy. Be careful, this does not guarantee that the company will not raise its prices at any time, but at least in the short term we will not see changes in this regard. Everything will depend, of course, on the global economic outlook, which is certainly not encouraging.
Microsoft takes advantage of its position
Why is Microsoft, despite also being hit by inflation, able to keep Xbox Series X|S prices? Unlike Sony, the company led by Satya Nadella is in a pretty strong financial position. Therefore, can afford to absorb the extra costs caused by inflation without hurting consumers’ pocketbooks.
At this time, moreover, they cannot afford a price hike on their current generation hardware. The reason? The Xbox brand is having a great time, largely because of Microsoft’s pro-consumer strategy. A vision that, by the way, is championed by Xbox Game Pass, the best gaming service on the market.
What happened with Sony and the PlayStation 5 shows, on the other hand, that developing the Xbox Series S is one of the best decisions Microsoft made to meet the current generation. The fact of having a console at a groundbreaking price, and with the ability to run the same games as its older sister — sacrificing performance, yes — allows more users to get on the bandwagon of next-gen without breaking the wallet.
Now it remains for us to know how Nintendo will respond to inflation. just a week ago, Nikkei reported that Kyoto will deal with supply problems by reducing the Switch’s packaging by 20%. This will make it easier for them to transport more units in the same space. However, for now there are no clues that suggest a price increase in the hybrid console.