Microsoft rises Xbox prices in our once again as tariff challenges continue

By Zaheer Kachwala -Microsoft said on Friday that it raises the prices of its Xbox game consoles in the US for a second time this year, as the cloud giant’s video game section is struggling with tariff -induced costs, strong competition and uncertain expenses. The price increases, which Microsoft attributes to ‘changes in the macroeconomic environment’, applies to the current generation hardware, with the one-Terabyte range that will cost about $ 450 and the high-end range X around $ 650 when changes will come into effect on October 3. Xbox previously raised consolation prices in various markets in May, including the United States, Europe, Australia and the United Kingdom, as US President Donald Trump’s rates on imports from manufacturing centers such as China threaten to increase the cost of hardware and press the margins. Along with the May increases, the Xbox Series X saw a $ 150 price increase within six months, possibly leading to players to limit budgets amid higher inflation levels. “This price increase is less about opportunism or even the cost of software development. Instead, this is the result of tariff increases and rising costs in the supply chain. Hardware is recurring to record new trading pressure,” Joost van Deunen says, Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. Xbox -meder Sony also raised the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the US by about $ 50 last month. Sony’s most expensive PS5 Pro sold for $ 749.99. Microsoft said that prices for controllers, headset and consoles in other markets will remain unchanged. Consoles are expected to be the biggest driver for growth in the video game industry this year, due to the launch of new premium titles such as ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’, and hardware such as Nintendo’s Switch 2. Title delays and price increases, however, shed a cloud over the foreign outlook on the industry. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without edits to text.