Microsoft announces price hike for Xbox consoles, Singapore spared for now
Only in the US, UK, Europe and Australia. Some upcoming first-party games will also retail for US$80 come the holiday season.
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Could it trickle down to Singapore? Photo: Microsoft.
Microsoft has announced a sweeping price hike on Xbox consoles, controllers, and headsets in multiple regions. The areas most affected are the US, UK, Europe and Australia, with other regions spared (for now). The price changes went live yesterday, 1 May.
For the US, at least, these hikes are pretty major. The base model Xbox Series S 512GB saw its price jump to US$379.99 from US$299.99. The Xbox Series X fares even worse; both the digital and disc drive consoles will see a US$100 price increase, while the highest-end Galaxy Black Special Edition will now cost US$729.99, up from the original US$599.99 price.
Overall, the price has increased between 22 to 27% across the entire Xbox Series X|S lineup in the United States. This increase isn't uniform across the different regions, though. The price jump in the UK is less egregious, with a £20-50 markup across the lineup. In Australia, the consoles will see a AU$50 price increase across the board.
Other products affected include the Xbox Wireless and Elite Wireless Controllers, which now sit at US$64.99 for the Wireless Controller (Core), to US$199.99 for the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full). The US and Canada will also be the only regions to see a price increase for the Xbox Stereo Headset and Xbox Wireless Headset, now US$64.99 and US$119.99, respectively.
For context, the last Xbox Series X|S price hike was in 2023. Microsoft didn't specifically mention tariffs or the US-China trade war this round, only mentioning that the changes were "made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development."
These price hikes currently affect only the regions mentioned above, and there's no news on whether it'll come to Singapore yet.
Importantly, Microsoft also mentioned that some of its new, first-party titles will be priced at US$79.99 come this holiday season. This price increase is the most likely to go global, if the company wants to keep its games priced consistently across different markets. We have reached out to Microsoft for comments about whether the price hikes will affect Singapore in the future.
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