Phil Spencer: Xbox Series price increase unlikely yet

Sony drew attention when, unexpectedly, increased prices on the PlayStation 5 in the second year of current generation consoles. Naturally, many wondered, not difficult economic situations we will all be in what we see Xbox price spike also. However, in a recent CNBC interview, Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, stated that raising prices for the Xbox Series line would not be a smart move for the company right now. He also clarified that Microsoft has no plans to slow down investments in game studios, despite Activision Blizzard’s offer.

While in Japan for the Tokyo Game Show, Phil Spencer appeared on CNBC to talk about Microsoft’s potential interest in acquiring more companies, how it sees itself in the Japanese video game market, and whether Xbox will follow PlayStation in raising prices. Spencer didn’t “strongly” deny that Xbox would raise prices, and instead chose to highlight the success of the more budget-friendly Series S, while also emphasizing that while “customers are experiencing more economic hardship and uncertainty than ever,” the company is currently no plans to raise prices.

While this is more direct confirmation that we shouldn’t expect price hikes in the near term, Spencer said that “in the future” the company can’t completely rule out price changes.

We always value our business in the future. I don’t think we can ever say that we will never do something. But when we look at our consoles today, […] Series X and Series S, we believe value is incredibly important. We love the Series S position in the market, it’s our affordable console. More than half of our new players that we find are in Serie S. And I can definitely say that today we have no plans to raise [the prices] our consoles […] we don’t think it’s the right move to raise prices on our console at the moment.

The topic of console pricing followed the talk of acquisitions, with Phil Spencer stating that the competitive nature of the video game market means the company “can’t stop at anything”, citing the size of its competitors such as Sony and Tencent. The recent acquisition by Activision is definitely ruffled some feathers between Xbox and PlayStationespecially for the future Call of Dutymultiplatform status. Of the acquisitions, Spencer said:

Tencent is the largest gaming company on the planet today, and they continue to invest heavily in game content and game creators. Sony is a bigger business than we are in games today, and they keep investing. If you look at the investments we’ve made, it’s a very, very competitive market. We strive to be a major player here. […] whether it be investments in our internal teams […] [or] creating new partnerships.

Spencer also mentioned Xbox’s ambition to expand its presence in Japanese markets, where it has historically struggled. He highlighted plans to build relationships with existing Japanese developers, similar to the company’s recent plan. partnership with Kojima Productions introduce an ambitious future game to the Xbox.