Xbox is now starting to ask for more money from developers who want to make games for the Microsoft console. Xbox has been on a tear of rough news throughout 2025. It all started with an Xbox price increase back in the spring which, at the time, also included a jump to $80 games. Xbox ended up backing down on the game price hike, but raised prices on hardware. Only a few months later, hardware jumped in price again, taking the Xbox Series X from $500 at the start of the year all the way to $650 by October. On top of that, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate jumped from $20 to $30 as well, frustrating users.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Needless to say, it has been a bit rocky and there have been concerns about the future of the Xbox brand. There were rumors that Xbox stopped selling consoles at retailers like Target, though that has been debunked by both Target and Microsoft. However, stock does appear to be hard to find, leading some to speculate that Xbox isn’t producing hardware in mass following the price hikes. It’s a weird time and many are scared that the next Xbox generation, which Microsoft has reaffirmed will happen, could be the last for the brand.
Xbox Raises Prices on Development Kits
To add on to all of the weird news, The Verge has reported that Xbox is now raising prices on Xbox development kits. These are special pieces of hardware that serve almost as souped-up Xbox consoles and allow developers to build, test, and publish games on the platform. It even includes a small programmable display screen on the front of the console which can be used for fun or practical purposes, such as easily measuring FPS in a game.
As a result of them being much more powerful than the average retail Xbox, they also cost much more. They previously cost $1,500, but now, they will cost $2,000. Although it is partially attributed to tariffs, developers outside of the U.S. will also feel this increase. While some indie developers can be approved for loaner kits, larger studios have to buy these and given Xbox’s player base certainly won’t be growing a ton with recent price hikes on the retail units, it is an inconvenient move for developers. Xbox is pricing out just about everybody and making it harder and harder to support the platform.
This change is especially baffling since Xbox developer kits shouldn’t be squeezed for profit, because the developers already have to pay Microsoft a cut for any game sale on its platform. It’s all very strange and it will be interesting to see if any developers slowly stop supporting Xbox. It may not be too big of a deal for major studios not just willing to make the investment, but ones that already have dev kits as well, but we’ll see what happens.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in theย ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image courtesy of Bethesda -
Image Courtesy of Netflix
