Microsoft has started increasing the price of its Xbox Series X/S console range. The company announced last year that it would hold off on price increases over the festive season but confirmed that consumers would face a price hike in early 2023. While Microsoft has yet to confirm the exact pricing structure for each region, Japan is the first country to be hit with a price increase.
According to Gematsu, both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles are going up in price by ¥5000. That equals around a $40 increase for both models.
Many speculate that the price hike has come into effect due to a number of factors in the region. Firstly, the yen has reduced against the dollar by 30%. In addition, the 10% price hike for the console covers the rise of manufacturing costs involved in producing the unit. However, Microsoft claims the price increase is due to the change in the market condition. In a statement, the company said:
“After carefully evaluating the market condition in Japan, we have decided to change the suggested retail price of Xbox consoles in the country. We regularly evaluate the impact of local pricing to maintain reasonable consistency across regions. This price revision affects our customers and was a difficult decision to make, but going forward we will continue to provide the ultimate Xbox experience that our customers expect.”
The Xbox Series X price will increase from ¥54,978 to ¥59,978. The Xbox Series S price will increase from ¥32,278 to ¥37,978.
The price hike will likely roll out in more regions very soon. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided to increase the price of the Xbox Series X and S console in its worst-performing region. The Xbox brand doesn’t do well in Japan at all with only a handful of consoles sold each week.
READ MORE – Xbox, Nintendo and Sony Will Apparently Skip E3 2023
The price increase follows in Sony’s footsteps. The company also hiked the price of its PS5 console last year. Various regions saw the console increase by around $40 too. In South Africa, we had an R500 increase for the disc PS5 model and an R1300 increase for the Digital Edition (for some reason).
Source: Gematsu
