Will Xbox Series X/S make it to 36 million?

[TomaTito]

Mummelmann said:

Kyuu said:

So why are Xbox 1st party games going up to $80? Xbox is digital dominated so tariffs shouldn't have much of an effect on game prices. Are they trying to push more people into GamePass, or will they also increase GamePass subscription prices soon?

As for Sony, I sure hope they stop pampering the US consumer, and for once not take their frustration out on the rest of the world.

I think they're pushing people onto Gamepass, and within a few months or so, they'll hike up the prices there as well. Subscriptions are Microsoft's grand plan across several markets and services, it's clever (but painful for me) and makes sense in a market where they can't seem to compete on existing terms.

Ultimately, these price increases from the big boys (Nintendo, MS, and Sony) may well shrink the industry as a whole. Increasing prices of products and services to make up for rising costs is usually a worse solution than increasing (or even maintaining) volume and reducing costs. People talk a lot about relative cost of gaming, and how games were actually more expensive before. While this is true, it's also a phenomenon from way back when gaming was still very much a niche industry overshadowed by movies and music (by a decent margin). The industry and market today is a different beast, and it sits in a time where people are shelling out left and right for a slew of technological solutions, devices, and services. People need to cut costs - and luxuries like games, streaming services, and flagship devices are on the chopping block for real right now. The modern gaming market is full of more fringe consumers who have less of a vested (and, by extension; invested) interest in the pastime, and may simply leave it (we've seen big migrations away from entertainment before) for lack of convenience, affordability, or both. 

Disney Plus lost about 700k subscribers between October-December 2024 due to price hikes, the WB group lost a total of 2.5 million subscribers following the rebranding of HBO and price hikes, Amazon Prime lost a lot of subscriptions by introducing ads at the same price point. People are cutting out things rather than adding, there's only room for a small amount of major players that can pull off customer retention, in the above scenario that would be Netflix (most other services have suffered when applying the same models and strategies). Look at how the music and movie industry are suffering these days, cinemas closing shop, artists revolting against streaming services, TV shows being axed daily due to low viewership in a jungle of mediocrity (and absurd costs). The entertainment sector overall is having a hard time selling itself to us; making it even more expensive won't do the trick in these trying times. There are figures suggesting that the movie and TV-industry in total shrunk by 20% yoy in 2024, with the gigantic US market shrinking as much as 40%.

I think most major releases at a default 80$ price-point will suffer, and that the increased price will strongly reduce total sales to the point where it becomes a net loss having increased the prices to begin with. As mentioned above, a select few will manage to stay afloat, or even grow, under these conditions. Right now I think that Nintendo will do well even at 80$, but they won't have much company in their success.

The gaming industry is headed for the same stormy waters as music and movies, but it's lagging many years behind. Pricing themselves out of customer range will only serve to accelerate the decline.

Awesome post, wholeheartedly agree, you might even think of making it a thread of itself.

Mentioned something similar in the Games price, value and perception thread I made:

Seriously though, Nintendo's price hikes seem like a deliberate red ocean strategy. They are effectively squeezing out the competition's next-gen consoles by pushing them into a premium corner burdened by high AAA development costs and a potentially smaller audience. This strategic move leaves their rivals with limited choices: either increase their own prices or attempt a market disruption with a cheaper alternative, a base already secured by the Switch Lite.