Xbox is among the companies that, in 2023, will increase the prices of their products in the climate of general increases in the economy.

Perhaps an involuntary assist to Xbox Game Pass, since in any case the Microsoft first parties will always be entered on day one.

The news arrived at the beginning of the week, shaking the serenity of Xbox players who were waiting for The Game Awards announcements.

The Geoff Keighley event which, thanks to the many announcements and trailers, distracted the Xbox community from the fact that prices will go up in 2023.

But what is the reason why Xbox has decided to increase the prices of firsty party games, which also includes Starfield which will be anyway among the titles coming to Game Pass (subscribe quickly on Amazon)?

As ​​one can imagine, this is the same reason why the price of everything in the world has increased : growing costs.

This was stated by Phil Spencer (via VGC), providing more details on the reasons that led Microsoft to the decision.

Title such as the upcoming Forza Motorsport, Redfall and Starfield will go from $60 to $70 on the list since 2023, all to be able to maintain the quality standards of the productions.

Here’s what Spencer had to say about it:

“Price is always something we are aware of, as well as the impact it has on our customers, and there are many things we can evaluate in our platform. Of course there’s the price of the consoles themselves, the price of the games, the price of the subscription, and just given our economic reality right now, something had to change to continue running the business with the rising costs that we have had.”

A choice, continues Phil Spencer, which was taken after a long gestation and trying to resist as long as possible:

«We didn’t, we held on as long as we could, and we still like the fact that our subscription is at the price it’s at, our console with our Series S is the latest generation console cheapest on the market, and running the business, the move that we decided to make was on the retail prices of our biggest games, and it’s really just the cost basis of building those games and making sure we can run the business the way just right for our customers.”

Surely players will have to assimilate this news very soon, as the fact that Xbox Series X will continue to not be easily purchasable.

While the company is continuing to fight for Call of Duty which, albeit with difficulty, will also arrive on Nintendo consoles.