Microsoft said on Friday it is raising the prices of its Xbox gaming consoles in the US for a second time this year, as the cloud giant’s video game division grapples with tariff-induced cost pressures, strong competition and uncertain spending.
The price increases, which Microsoft attributes to “changes in the macroeconomic environment,” will apply to its current generation of hardware, with the one-terabyte Series S set to cost around $450 and the high-end Series X around $650 when the changes go into effect on October 3.
The special edition two-terabyte Galaxy Black Series X will now retail for nearly $800.
Xbox previously raised console prices in May in several markets including the United States, Europe, Australia and the UK, as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports from manufacturing hubs like China threaten to raise the cost of hardware and compress margins.
Paired with the May increases, the Xbox Series X has seen a $150 price hike within six months, potentially leading gamers to curb budgets amid higher inflation levels.
“This price increase is less about opportunism or even the cost of software development. Instead, it is the result of tariff increases and rising costs in the supply chain. Hardware is being repriced to absorb new trade pressures,” said Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern School of Business.
Xbox rival Sony also raised the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the US by around $50 last month. Sony’s most expensive PS5 Pro retails for $749.99.
Prices for controllers, headsets and consoles in other markets will remain unchanged, Microsoft said.
Consoles were expected to be the biggest driver of growth in the video game industry this year, due to the launch of new premium titles such as “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and hardware such as Nintendo’s Switch 2. However, title delays and price hikes cast a cloud over the industry’s near-term outlook.
Microsoft hikes Xbox prices in US once again as tariff challenges persist
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Microsoft hikes Xbox prices in US once again as tariff challenges persist
USA Today Co., owner of the Detroit Free Press, says it will purchase The Detroit News
LANSING, Michigan: USA Today Co., which owns the Detroit Free Press, said Monday that it plans to acquire The Detroit News and bring both major metropolitan newspapers under its banner.
The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press recently ended an almost 40-year agreement that allowed the two papers to operate in the same city and merge aspects of their business operations.
According to a statement from USA Today Co., the newspaper publisher formerly named Gannett, both newspapers will continue to publish separately. The company provided little other information on the planned operation of the daily newspapers.
The statement also did not disclose a price of the sale.
USA Today Co., which publishes the largest chain of newspapers in the US, said the sale is being funded through cash and financing managed by Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm that funded New Media Investment Group Inc.’s 2019 acquisition of Gannett.
The deal is expected to close “at the end of the month.”
The two newspapers have both been in operation for over 100 years. The Detroit News has won three Pulitzer Prizes and the Detroit Free Press has won 10.
“Both companies have a mutual desire to ensure that these publications and their distinct journalism continue to serve the greater Detroit area,” Guy Gilmore, chief operating officer of MediaNews Group, the current owner of The Detroit News said in a statement.
In 1989, the two papers began a joint operating agreement, a deal established under the 1970 Newspaper Preservation Act which allowed failing newspapers to be exempt from certain antitrust rules. The two newspapers worked in competition but shared some overhead resources and business operations including advertising, printing and distribution.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ended the agreement in December after 36 years.
In 2024, Gannett stopped using journalism produced by The Associated Press as financial struggles continued to mount on the news industry.
