Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed that "at a time when our customers are more economically challenged and uncertain than ever, we don't think it's the right move for us at this point to be raising the price of our consoles".
In an interview with CNBC's Squawk Asia, Spencer said that whilst the company was "always evaluating our business going forwards" and "can['t] ever say [...] that we will never do something", there were currently no plans to follow Sony and raise the prices of its hardware.
"When we look at our consoles today, Series X and Series S, we think value is incredibly important, and we love the position of Series S in the market, which is our lower-cost console," Spencer confirmed, adding: "over half of our new players that we're finding are coming in through Series S".
$MSFT's @XboxP3 talks #Tencent, #JRPG's, and @discord - and explains why it's not time to follow $SONY's hike in prices. #Xbox #PlayStation pic.twitter.com/BCIY0wE8GtSeptember 16, 2022
"I can definitely say that we have no plans today to raise the price of our consoles," he said.
"We think that at a time when our customers are more economically challenged and uncertain than ever, we don't think it's the right move for us at this point to be raising the price of our consoles."
Last month, Sony increased the price of PS5 right around the world, with America being the only exception. Citing the "global economic environment, including high inflation rates" at the reason behind the price hike, Sony said the PS5's price would increase with immediate effect.
This means the PS5 now costs £479.99 in the UK for the base model, while the All-Digital version retails for £389.99. The former now costs CAD $649.99 in Canada and the latter retails for CAD $519.99, while the PS5 costs AUD $799.95 in Australia, and the digital version costs AUD $649.95.
"While this price increase is a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business, our top priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation so that as many players as possible can experience everything that PS5 offers and what’s still to come," PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan said at the time.
Here are our picks of the best Xbox Game Pass games.
