Xbox hikes prices of games by up to 300% in many regions

In the past few days, Xbox has silently adjusted the price for several games on Steam across regions, and the hike is up to 300% in some cases. The new prices now reflect if you head to the game’s Steam page.

Regions affected by the price hike include India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia, amongst others. The information was first shared by a user on Reddit.

The games that witnessed massive hikes in price are Sea of Thieves, Gears 5, Gears Tactics, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, Grounded, and Ori Blind Forest.

For Sea of Thieves, the price in India increased from ₹ 1399 to ₹ 3499, in the Philippines, from ₱949.00 to ₱1990.00, and in South Africa, from R 319.00 to R 519.00.

Similarly, for Gears 5, the increase in India was from ₹ 899 to ₹ 2699, in the Philippines, from ₱829.95 to ₱1490.00, and in South Africa, from R 219.00 to R 499.00.

With the latest surprise price hike across Xbox games on Steam, the entire idea of regional pricing seems to have gone for a toss!

Players share their take on the Xbox hiking the game prices

While Xbox has yet to comment on the price hike, that didn’t stop players from sharing their thoughts and reasoning for the decision. And honestly, some of the comments make sense!

Regional pricing for games exists so that publishers can maximise profits. They’ll keep adjusting them until they figure out what makes them the most money.

There are many factors that could contribute to this. One popular case is Steam users abusing cheaper regional pricing to buy games that cost more in their native region (which has happened a lot, and indie devs have called this behavior out multiple times). Another possibility is that these games just aren’t selling as much in these regions, despite the price adjustment; therefore, the publisher sees no need to adjust the pricing.

This only encourages pirating even more. Why would you make the game more expensive in regions where basic income is low as it is. For me 60$ games are expensive. I would gladly buy it at 20$ if I had regional pricing like that. Unfrotunately I don’t, and 60$ for me is quite a hefty chunk of the average monthly income.

They are pushing people more and more towards Game Pass, which also is reportedly getting a price increase. Why even buy a game at such exorbitant prices when you can get it much cheaper with a subscription?

Hellblade 2 costs 4400 ($53) in India compared to $50 in the US. Forget about regional pricing, atleast give us equal pricing.

If it indeed is Microsoft’s way of pushing users towards a paid subscription and you are excited about it, don’t be. Reports suggest that the Xbox Game Pass subscription charges are due for another increase.

At a time when Xbox sales are at a record low in years, adjusting the pricing isn’t the best of the move, in my opinion. But it could just as well have been a decision to recover the losses accrued in the recent past. We will have to wait for a few months to see how this plays out for Xbox!

Why do you think Xbox hiked the game prices? Share with our readers in the comments section.