How Much Xbox Series X Games Will Cost

This holiday season, many people will be deciding whether or not it’s time to pick up the latest gaming consoles, including the Xbox Series X. Besides having to consider the price of the console, people will also need to consider the cost of the games themselves. But whether or not games for the Xbox Series X will be more expensive is a complicated question.

The Xbox Series X and its smaller, digital-only counterpart, the Xbox Series S, will both release on November 10th, 2020. The Xbox Series X costs $499.99, but even if that’s in the budget for a gamer, they might have trouble getting their hands on one if they haven’t pre-ordered it already. Xbox head Phil Spencer has admitted that there likely won’t be enough supply of the Xbox Series X to keep up with demand. While no official reason was given for this problem, it likely stems from issues caused by COVID.

Once gamers have acquired an Xbox Series X, they’ll need games to go with it. Fortunately, it looks like for the immediate future, games will continue to cost $60. That’s at least partially due to Microsoft’s commitment to the Smart Delivery program. Through Smart Delivery, players will only ever need to buy a game once across all generations of Xbox. If they buy a game for the Xbox One and upgrade to the Xbox Series X, they’ll also be upgraded to the Xbox Series X version at no additional cost. With most games coming out for both the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X for the foreseeable future, that means that games will likely continue to be released at their standard pricing of $60. There’s no reason to charge players more for Xbox Series X versions when they can simply upgrade their Xbox One versions for free.

Will Xbox Series X Exclusives Cost More?

But as games start to move to being released exclusively on the Xbox Series X, consumers might see an uptick in price. The precedent has already been set by Take-Two’s NBA 2K21, a game which will release exclusively on Xbox Series X and PS5 for $70. Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick has defended the price increase for NBA 2K21 , citing the fact that game prices haven’t increased in over ten years, despite the fact that games have become much bigger and cost more money to produce in the first place. With Sony also stating that PS5 games will be “priced from US$49.99 to $69.99,” it’s a good idea for gamers to brace themselves for rising prices in the future.

Owners of the Xbox Series X may have a work around for this rising cost, however: Xbox Game Pass. While the library of games offered by this subscription service is limited and features a rotating inventory, it has contained a surprising number of AAA games, some of which were added to the service on the date of release. Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds, for instance, were both added to Xbox Game Pass on their release day. And although the release date is in the far distant future, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be on Xbox Game Pass on Day One, thanks to Microsoft’s recent purchase of Bethesda. While not a surefire method of acquiring and playing the hottest new games, at a maximum price of $14.99 a month, it may be the perfect solution for budget-strapped gamers looking to get the most out of their Xbox Series X.

Source: Sony

About The Author

Caitlin Grieve
(198 Articles Published)

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Caitlin has been writing about video games and sci-fi/fantasy books since 2018. Her video game adventures began a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as an Imperial pilot in Star Wars: TIE Fighter. When she’s not gaming, she’s reading, and when she’s not reading, she’s writing. But she is ALWAYS plotting her next D&D escapades.

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