Xbox Fans Get Disappointing News for 2023 Games

Microsoft has today shared some disappointing news with Xbox fans in preparation for 2023. Since the launch of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles back in late 2020, Microsoft hasn’t moved forward with increasing the prices of its games like some other video game publishers. Companies like Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and many others have started making their respective “next-gen” titles retail for $69.99 rather than the $59.99 value that was seen for well over a decade. And while Xbox has avoided these price jumps so far, that won’t hold true for much longer. 

Beginning next year, Xbox has confirmed that it will begin charging this higher amount for its own first-party games. This means that upcoming exclusives such as Starfield, Redfall, and Forza Motorsport will all now retail for $69.99. This amount will also seemingly go on to be the new norm for Xbox, which means that games that are a bit further out such as Perfect Dark, Everwild, and Fable will all run this same amount as well. 

“This price reflects the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles,” a representative from Microsoft said to IGN in a new statement. “As with all games developed by our teams at Xbox, they will also be available with Game Pass the same day they launch.”

And in case you thought that the PC platform would somehow be impervious to this change, well, you would be wrong. Microsoft went on to confirm in an additional statement to Digital Trends that first-party releases on PC will see the same alteration in price as well. Essentially, it seems like all first-party games that come to Xbox Series X/S and PC will retail for $69.99 moving forward, which will take some getting used to. 

The only good thing with this whole situation is that it essentially makes Xbox Game Pass an even better value proposition than before. Currently, Microsoft hasn’t announced any planned price increases for Game Pass, which means that titles like Redfall and Starfield being available on the service the moment they launch are more cost-efficient than ever. And while it seems like Xbox Game Pass could get some price changes down the road, hopefully, those alterations don’t happen any time soon.  

How do you feel about Xbox being the latest gaming publisher to increase the cost of its future games? Was this something that you had been expecting to see happen eventually? Let me know either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12.