If you’ve been eagerly awaiting a price decrease to pick up an Xbox Series X/S nearly five years after its release, we’ve got some bad news. Microsoft announced that, starting today, 1 May, the price of its Xbox consoles, controllers, and even a couple of its choicest games would see a price bump. The announcement is made more frustrating by its suddenness, leaving potential customers scrambling.
Seriously, if you had your eye on an already pricey Xbox console, we’d suggest you place those orders ASAP – before the distributors and secondhand sellers catch on. If you didn’t immediately click ‘Add to cart’, we’ll assume you’re holding off ’til your bank balance has a few more zeroes tacked onto the end of it. In which case, you’ll need to contend with some fairly unpretty prices.
Hey, I’ve seen this one!
The company even took a page out of Nintendo’s playbook, confirming that several of its first-party games would get the $80 pricing treatment. While we’re wholeheartedly against Nintendo’s decision to lead the industry in that particular direction, it makes a little more sense when you look at what’s coming out the other end. On one hand, you have Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder while Xbox has… Starfield?
If you believe the rumours, it won’t be long before PlayStation has Starfield, too. These choices from both Nintendo and Xbox will have significant ramifications on the gaming industry as a whole. We wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar announcement from Sony in the coming weeks, not long after it recently announced its own console prices and subscription fees would be going up in some territories.
Read More: The Xbox Games Showcase returns for a gaming-filled weekend this June
If you were hoping that South Africa might miraculously dodge this latest round of tariff-related hikes, think again. The company’s final statement regarding prices worldwide was the final nail in the coffin:
“Markets not listed above will also receive updated recommended retailer pricing, and local pricing may differ by country to reflect exchange rates and market conditions,” the company ended.
Unfortunately, official South African pricing for this new age of Xbox sits in limbo. We’ve reached out to the local Xbox distributor to confirm new local pricing for both the Xbox Series X and S consoles and their controllers, but have yet to hear back at the time of publication. For now, all we can do is wallow in the price hikes currently taking effect in the States.
- Series X Digital – $550 (was $450)
- Series X – $600 (was $500)
- Series X 2TB – $730 ($600)
- Series S 512GB – $380 (was $300)
- Series S 1TB – $430 (was $350)
- Wireless Controller Special Edition – $80 (was $70)
- Wireless Controller Limited Edition – $90 (was $80)
- Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full) – $200 (was $180)
- Wireless Headset – $120 (was $110)
As if you needed any more convincing that Xbox’s latest hikes are definitively out of touch, take a look at the cost of the 2TB Xbox Series X, which now bears a $730 (R13,400) price tag – pricing out the five-month-old (and not particularly cheap) PS5 Pro with nearly five-year-old hardware.
