Xbox doesn’t seem to have learned much from its stance on $80 video games. 2025 was a rough year for Xbox. Although the company released some great games like Grounded 2 and The Outer Worlds 2, the brand itself was stuck in constant controversy. There was a divisive response to Xbox bringing more of its games over to PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, including key franchises like Halo and Gears of War. Xbox jacked up prices on just about everything, taking the Xbox Series X from $500 to $650. Xbox even attempted to charge $80 for games after Nintendo sold Mario Kart World for that same price; however, it quickly backed down.
Videos by ComicBook.com
$80 for a video game in 2025 is a very touchy subject. For starters, people just don’t have the buying power for regular $80 games. $70 is pushing it as is, but another price hike could result in people buying less games in a time where the industry can’t afford that. Games are also littered with microtransactions, DLCs, and other forms of monetization, allowing developers other forms of revenue, which would make $80 for the entry fee feel insulting. It seemed like everyone agreed that $80 wasn’t the way to go, but Microsoft still seems to be considering it for the future.
Xbox Can’t Afford to Increase Game Prices
Earlier this month, Xbox Games Studio boss Matt Booty spoke with Variety. The interview largely served as a reflection of 2025 and a look forward, so the topic turned toward game pricing. Booty says that the company is still evaluating the approach to pricing for future Xbox titles.
“Our whole focus is on delivering player satisfaction and delivering player value. And we’re always going to be listening to what people want there,” Booty said. “We’ve reacted in the last year and I think for us, the real focus is going to be — I’ll come back to the phrase meeting people where they are. I think there’s going to be less of a focus on what’s that top line price of a game, as people start to engage in different ways with games. From our point of view, monetization just happens in so many different ways right now. So we’re going to continue to listen to the feedback from fans. We’re going to continue, to balance that with needing to run the healthy business. But right now, on the content side, we don’t have any pricing updates.”
That quote seems to suggest there could be variable pricing in the future, potentially meaning megaton games like The Elder Scrolls VI could be $80. Perhaps it could mean the next-gen Xbox will have $80 games. Either way, it doesn’t feel like a lesson has been learned. By not outright denying that the company is considering raising game prices, it feels like the door is being left open to try again later. Some think GTA 6 could be an $80 – $100 game, due to its budget and overall size. If that happens, it will certainly give others more confidence in raising prices. Could they succeed with it like Rockstar could? Probably not, but they’d certainly try, as proven by what happened with Mario Kart World.
Xbox is not in a position to raise game prices. Not only has it already hiked up prices on consoles, but it has raised the price on Xbox Game Pass as well. People are already starting to pull back on their support for the platform, not because they don’t love Xbox, but because it’s too costly to continue investing into it. Charging more for games would likely be yet another nail in the coffin.
It’s also extremely frustrating as Xbox has spent the last decade collecting major studios and IPs through acquisitions, almost like Thanos collecting infinity stones. Buying Call of Duty, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other big franchises or studios and then telling not only Xbox players, but also PlayStation and PC players that they now have to pay more for it is absurdly unfair. It’s as if players are being punished for Xbox’s poor financial decisions. Now we have to pay more for games because Microsoft wanted to dump billions of dollars into buying studios when it probably couldn’t afford to do so.
It’s more bad PR when Xbox needs to be doing more to earn goodwill. If they keep going down this path of creating the most expensive platform during a time when people don’t have that much money to throw around, Xbox could sink. Xbox sales were already at a historic low during November, one of the busiest months for shopping. PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and a device known as NEX Playground dominated console sales during Black Friday, leaving Xbox to rank below a piece of hardware you’ve probably never even heard of. Things are dire, and Xbox needs to get it together or face extinction.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Netflix
