Xbox Series X
There’s a new release of Digital Foundry from the power of the Xbox Series X, and it’s got some people thinking about a price point that felt previously unformable for a next-gen console:
I was also “alone” at a shared price of $ 500 for both the PS5 and Series X, but seeing the sheer power that Microsoft has refurbished in the Series X, $ 600 does not seem out of the question for the package, given that otherwise can take Microsoft too big of a loss on the unit. Combine that with rumblings over $ 600 at least displaying as the placeholder price for the Series X in some retail stores, and it does not feel impossible.
My main concern here is not really the “value”. I totally believe that yes, you probably get more than technical value of your money for $ 600 compared to similar specs you might find in a gaming PC, where $ 600 is nothing in that space. And yet in console country, the last time a console was priced at $ 600 was the PS3, which launched disastrously because of it. And the last time Xbox got “too high” for $ 500 for the One to Sony’s $ 400 PS4, it set it back so far that it was never caught.
The difference this time is that yes, Xbox Series X would have the power edge, so a potentially higher price than the PS5 (if that is in fact $ 500) would be fairer. Xbox Series X will also launch alongside the yet-to-be-announced-but-the-real-we-promise Xbox Series S, a lower spec version of the console that will likely undercut the PS5 price, but I would think it does not go below $ 400.
I gewoan just am not comfortable with Xbox Series X prices at $ 600 both in this current market, and after this past generation.
Xbox
Analysts have already predicted that this holiday season, PS5 will maintain its 2: 1 sales lead over Xbox Series X, as PS4 has this Xbox generation over this entire generation. But that was before the delay of Halo Infinite, and it goes without saying that Series X could come in price at $ 600.
I understand that Series X is a very powerful console, but so is the PS5, and unless Xbox can display side-by-side exactly how much better Cyberpunk than Assassin’s Creed if something on Series X looks or runs across PS5, I just do not think they have much to do with justifying a higher price. The Halo Infinite delay only makes the launch situation worse, and so they can deliver even fewer misunderstandings due to price on top.
The Series S only makes things more complicated in my eyes. We still do not know exactly how the console will perform, but if Microsoft’s reason is “well, if you do not want massive power, spend less for the SS,” it seems that it will lead to a lot of people who buy PS5s and Series Ss, with far fewer Series Xs sold, and those that do the choose Microsoft in that situation now gets fewer consoles than Sony’s. This is the reason why I never really understood the purpose of launching a “good and bad” console in a new generation, because both come with massive tradeoffs (price versus performance), while Sony has only one main choice has (discs versus digital) with no performance trades and a smaller price gap (and the cheaper console loses nothing except potential reseller pot).
I think it will be a mistake if Series X is priced at $ 600. I think to have a prayer at launch not even on par with Sony, but to be competitive with Sony, they have to agree price. We need to know more next month, when these two companies finally agree to disclose their prices to the public.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube en Instagram. Picking up my sci-fi novels Herokiller en Herokiller 2, and read my first series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook.
