Former Blizzard president criticises Microsoft for two Xbox price hikes in one year: 'Console price increases are not tariff issues, they are profit issues'

The reasons to get an Xbox Series X have only plummeted for me in the past few years. Xbox Game Pass is just as good on PC as Xbox for the most part, and yet the console is more expensive than it's ever been. In the last year, Xbox consoles have seen two different price hikes, with the latest (set to go live October 3) being attributed to "the macroeconomic environment".

As noted by GamesRadar, this second price increase would bump the 2 TB Xbox Series X all the way up to $800, which is $200 more than it was in January this year. Ex Blizzard president Mike Ybarra weighed in on this change on his X account.

He says, "Console price increases are not tariff issues, they are profit issues. And the reason why profits are not where they should be is a far, far deeper issue vs. the tariff excuse."

A user argues that Ybarra is linking 'missteps' Microsoft has made in the market to consoles underperforming, and that tariffs are a good way of making up the lost cost. The post says, "Microsoft is just passing the costs to the customers to maintain their margins."

In response to this claim, Ybarra says, "Yes. And tariffs went up once so that does justify the single price increase. An excuse to continue raising prices, with no new increase in tariffs, is simply a different problem and they are going to make consumers continue to pay for those problems."

The PlayStation 5 technically saw two price increases this year, too, but that's only because its increase was staggered between the European and US markets. It increased by around $50, which is a quarter of Microsoft's hikes. Nintendo also saw a price increase of between $30 and $50 on its range of Nintendo Switch consoles (not including the Nintendo Switch 2, which has stayed the same. Neither of these is as drastic as Microsoft's increases.

As someone who bought an Xbox Series X in a more naive time (2020), I pretty much only turn it on at this point when my partner is hogging my main devices. My PC will run Xbox Game Pass games better with a prettier monitor, and there's nothing the Series X can do that can't be done elsewhere. This is all to say I have no interest in what Microsoft launches next.

In a world where everything is an Xbox, it seems pretty obvious to ask, "Why can't a PC be an Xbox?" and for $800, you can get a mighty fine PC.

Right now, that kind of money will get you an ABS Cyclone Aqua at Newegg, complete with an Intel Core i5 13400F and an Intel Arc B580. You are getting a bit less storage at 1 TB, but you do receive 32 GB of RAM. If you're looking to build your own rig, you can put together a tidy budget build with an RX 9060 XT and an Intel Core i5 13400F for $960, which is more cash, but you are getting more bang for your bucks, and you can shop around for second-hand parts to bring that cost down.

Where consoles do have an advantage is in specific optimisation. Developers will have different kinds of GPU and CPU pairings in mind for optimisation, but to create games for Xbox consoles, they only really need to think about two SKUs. The freedom given to a PC player (and the ability to upgrade) is great, though and $800 gets you a lot in return.

We still don't have a price on the Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X due to "macro-economic" impacts, but it's currently suggested that the Xbox Ally will cost $550 and that the Xbox Ally X will fetch $900. With new consoles expected to arrive between 2027 and 2029, the Series X has run a decent bit of its lifetime already, but Microsoft has to be concerned about pricing its Ally counterparts out of the market before they even arrive.

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