‘GTA 6’ Is Probably Going To Cost Way More Than You’d Expect, Analysts Say

Xbox has announced that, starting today, May 1, it’s increasing the prices of all of its consoles, as well as raising the prices of some first-party games to $80 by this holiday season. The price increase comes hot off the heels of Nintendo’s announcement of Switch 2.

The price increases are taking effect globally, although Xbox hasn’t currently announced what games we might see get a higher price. Here’s what you can expect Xbox consoles to cost from now on. It should also be noted, certain accessories will also receive slight adjustments.

• Xbox Series S 512 – $379.99 (increase from $299.99)
• Xbox Series S 1TB – $429.99 (increase from $349.99)
• Xbox Series X Digital – $549.99 (increase from $449.99)
• Xbox Series X – $599.99 (increase from $499.99)
• Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition $729.99 (increase from $599.99)
• Xbox Wireless Headset – $119.99 (increase from $109.99)
• Xbox Wireless Controller – Limited Edition – $89.99 (up from $79.99)
• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Core) – $149.99 (up from $139.99)
• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Full) – $199.99 (up from $179.99)

These are hefty price increases across the board, and Microsoft itself cites the reason as “rising” costs of development, with a statement saying: “We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”

You might notice that there’s not a single mention of the current tariff situation in the United States, or economic unrest across the world. Video game analysts, however, think that’s the direct reason.

“The Xbox price hikes are of course directly related to the tariff chaos in the US and the overall gloomy situation in the global economy,” says Dr. Serkan Toto, consultant and analyst at Kantan Games, “Microsoft is using this backdrop to increase price hikes across (almost) all physical Xbox products and across several geographies. Now is an ‘ideal’ time for them to do so from a strategic and communications perspective.”

Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern and writer of the SuperJoost Playlist, echoes this sentiment, telling Inverse, “The Trump Tax is permanent, even if the tariffs aren’t. These increases are directly linked to Trump’s tariff policies, which the Consumer Technology Association predicted would make consoles approximately 40% more expensive for US consumers.

This price increase for Xbox comes less than a month after Nintendo stirred up conversation across the industry with its $450 price point for Switch 2, and Mario Kart World becoming the very first $80 game. That created a lot of discussion on whether it could set a precedent, if others would follow suit — now it seems unquestionable that others will. Major questions now arise about the cost of video games in general, a hobby that’s already pricing many people out as the cost of living and nearly everything else rise alongside it.

The rest of 2025 still holds some monumental video game releases, perhaps some of the biggest of the last decade, if not all time. In the face of the current economic situation, how will publishers approach things differently?

“Hopefully, I am wrong on this one as well, but Sony may be very tempted now to raise their hardware and software prices sooner rather than later,” Toto says, “Is there anyone left in our industry who thinks GTA6 will be ‘only’ $70?”

Dreunen shares a similar sentiment, that this move could have a meaningful impact on the industry at large. This could even affect the way games are made, or the kind of monetization models that implemented moving forward.

“We’re witnessing gaming’s luxury-tier formation in real time.” Dreunen says, “The convergence of tariff pressures, rising development costs, and the industry’s ongoing shift toward service-based models have created perfect conditions for publishers to test price elasticity across their portfolios — expect this to accelerate the transformation of gaming economics toward tiered pricing models.”

These Xbox price hikes were announced alongside the company’s latest earnings call, where Xbox reported a 5% year-over-year increase in gaming revenue, although console sales saw a 6% drop. It should also be noted, this comes at a time when Microsoft has been added as a “priority” target to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — a cultural movement identifying companies complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Microsoft previously declined to comment on being added as a boycott target.

There are a lot of factors at play in any kind of price hike, but especially right now. It’s undeniable that the cost of video game development has become unsustainable — and the industry has seen over 20,000 layoffs in the last two years alone. It’s also undeniable that the United States’ tariffs are putting increased pressure on an already struggling industry.

It’s hard to think of anything outside of the immediate, especially when the situation can change so rapidly and violently. But one of the questions that needs to be asked is, what happens next? When the economic situation improves, someday, what happens next? In Toto’s mind, something may have shifted here forever, as he says, “I pray I am wrong, but I think that at least this first (and hopefully final) price hike is irreversible.”

With both Nintendo and Xbox now shifting, more may follow, and the results may be irreversible.

“History suggests once prices increase in consumer electronics markets, they rarely revert even if the original economic pressures subside,” Dreunen says. “Manufacturers typically maintain higher price points while improving specifications or bundling additional value rather than reducing nominal prices.”