Despite reporting record revenue, Microsoft is jacking up the price of its latest Xbox consoles, and gamers already know who to blame for this: Donald Trump.
Donald Trump and his tariffs are accomplishing one thing consistently: making us pay more for consoles that have been out for five years.
Microsoft announced today, Friday, Sep.19, that it will be hiking up the price of its Xbox consoles again, following May’s price increase.
Suppose you happen to be one of the poor, unfortunate souls in the market for an Xbox console in the United States. In that case, you can expect to dish out even more money for an Xbox Series S, Series X, Series X Digital, and Series X 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition Consoles beginning on October 3rd.
Here are the new pricing breakdowns:
- Xbox Series S 512GB: $399.99 (up $20 from $379.99)
- Xbox Series S 1TB: $449.99 (up $20 from $429.99)
- Xbox Series X Digital: $599.99 (up $50 from $549.99)
- Xbox Series X: $649.99 (up $50 from $599.99)
- Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition: $799.99 (up $70 from $729.99
Microsoft Blames The Price Hikes On “Changes In The Macroeconomic Environment
Without explicitly saying Donald Trump or the word tariffs, Microsoft is saying it came to its decision to raise prices “due to changes in the macroeconomic environment,” adding that in the future it will “continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and providing value for Xbox players.”
This unfortunate news for gamers isn’t even that surprising, as it comes after companies continue to raise their prices while dealing with tariff fluctuations and uncertainty caused by Trump’s abuse of tariffs.
Sony already raised the price of some of its hardware, while Nintendo raised the cost of the original Nintendo Switch console after launching its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2.
Games have also seen price hikes with Microsoft jacking up the price of Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo dropping Super Mario Kart World at an $80 price point.
Microsoft Isn’t Saying It, But Gamers Know This Is Donald Trump’s Fault
As you can imagine, gamers are not happy about this news and have been sharing their thoughts. “lol come on man just stop selling them at this point. $800 for a Series X, get outta here,” journalist Paul Tassi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“These price hikes don’t bode well for Xbox Ally pricing,” Tom Warren, The Verge’s senior editor, added.
Other users are pointing out the obvious: this is all Donald Trump’s fault. “Trump’s tariffs are negatively impacting gamers like you and me,” wrote Daniel Ahmad.
These price hikes could all have been avoided; we genuinely feel for those who are looking to get a gaming console this holiday season.
You can see more reactions below.
