Xbox is joining the rest of the Gaming industry and other publishers in raising the prices of its new major first-party titles from $60 to $70.
Starting in 2023 games like Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Redfall, and others will cost $69.99 at launch. That price is for the US market, they haven’t given specifics for other countries as how much the prices will rise. Other publishers and platforms besides Nintendo have already made this change with the jump to next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
A Microsoft spokesperson had this to say to IGN about the story.
This price reflects the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles. As with all games developed by our teams at Xbox, they will also be available with Game Pass the same day they launch.
Xbox head Phil Spencer said earlier this year that prices would increase at some point, but not before the 2022 holiday season. Sony has even discussed raising the price for titles even further than the $69.99 number. While games are going up, certain consoles are also increasing in price. The PlayStation 5 got a price increase in several countries, and Nintendo hasn’t ruled out charging more for the Switch. Xbox and Spencer have stood firm in their prices for the current generation of Xbox consoles.
For those raising the pitchforks on game prices, we’ve had it pretty good for a long time regarding new games. If you remember back to the 1990’s, game prices didn’t have a fixed cost to them with games like Earthbound selling for upwards of $100 brand-new. The Xbox 360/PS3/Wii generation was the first to raise prices to the $60 range. So with more power, better graphics, and more things involved with the development, costs have to go up.
This just means that Xbox Game Pass will be one of the best values in gaming still. For $10 a month, you can get the best Xbox first-party games on launch day, immediately. Add to that, the extensive game library that’s already available, and it’s a gigantic value.
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Source: IGN
