Phil Spencer Talks Xbox Price Increases: "Something Had To Give"

Microsoft is raising the retail price of its biggest AAA releases from $60 to $70 to follow many others in the market, and top boss Phil Spencer has now shed some light on what drove the decision.

On the Second Request podcast, Spencer said Microsoft finally followed the likes of PlayStation, EA, Take-Two, and more in raising game prices due to economic headwinds.

"Pricing is always something that we're conscious of and the impact it has on our customers," he said. "Given our economic realities right now, something had to give in terms of us continuing to run the business with the increased cost basis that we had."

The $70 retail price tag for new Microsoft games goes into effect in 2023, so holiday shoppers don't have to worry about it. Additionally, even when the price hikes go into effect, all of Microsoft's first-party games are included with Xbox Game Pass.

Spencer said Microsoft "held off as long as [it] could" regarding price increases. "It's really just the cost basis of building those games and ensuring we can run the business in the right way for our customers," he said.

Finally, Spencer said he feels good about the overall value of Xbox, pointing to Game Pass and the $300 Series S being the least expensive current-generation console out there.