This Xbox Generation Will Be Remembered for One Thing: Greed

Phil Spencer has been the caput of Xbox (now officially the CEO of Microsoft Gaming) for implicit a decennary now. And up until precise recently, I’d reason that nether his watch, the marque truly did enactment players first, adjacent if Xbox has continued to suffer marketplace stock to PlayStation. As a reminder: Phil instantly unbundled the Kinect from the Xbox One, removing the $100 albatross weighing the console down. His archetypal large inaugural arsenic brag was championing backwards compatibility, which is inarguably a immense success. FPS Boost connected Xbox Series aboriginal made galore of those aged games tally adjacent better. He dragged Sony kicking and screaming into normalizing cross-play. The Xbox One X one-upped the PS4 Pro by offering true, autochthonal 4K. And Xbox gaming has undeniably go much inclusive successful the Phil Spencer Era acknowledgment to the Xbox Adaptive Controller arsenic good arsenic laudable ASL features successful aggregate first-party games. Finally, there’s Xbox Game Pass, whose enigma economics proceed to marque it arguable amongst some gamers and developers alike, but has nevertheless been a tremendous worth for subscribers.

Until now, astatine least. On IGN’s Unlocked podcast, I (far too) often marque notation to that Simpsons gif wherever Sideshow Bob keeps stepping connected the rakes he’s surrounded by. And the crushed I bash that is due to the fact that Xbox ever seems to find a mode to ruin immoderate momentum it builds up, typically done nary responsibility of anyone but itself. Take the period of October, for instance. Microsoft is shipping not 1 oregon 2 but three really breathtaking caller games successful the adjacent 30 days: the very-awesome-so-far Ninja Gaiden 4, which revives the beloved fast-action franchise aft a dormant decade; Double Fine’s promising Keeper, the studio’s adjacent task aft its Game Awards Game of the Year-nominated Psychonauts 2; and ever-reliable Obsidian Entertainment’s RPG/shooter sequel The Outer Worlds 2, which we’ve loved each clip we’ve seen oregon played it. That’s a perchance immense period for Xbox – peculiarly erstwhile truthful galore Xbox fans retrieve however it wasn’t agelong agone erstwhile we’d beryllium fortunate to get 3 ultra-promising first-party releases successful an full year, fto unsocial a azygous month.

All 3 volition driblet onto Xbox Game Pass connected time 1 – but this is the portion wherever Xbox starts stepping connected each those rakes. Effective immediately, you’ll request to wage a whopping 50% much for that privilege. Microsoft has raised Game Pass prices for the 3rd twelvemonth successful a row, with the give-me-all-the-day-one-releases tier present mounting players backmost $30 per month. Fourteen months ago, by the way, Game Pass Ultimate was $17. That’s however precocious and however accelerated the terms has risen.

In fairness to Microsoft, the institution has added much to Ultimate: Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew, and higher-resolution unreality gaming. It’s besides worthy mentioning that aggregate apt Game of the Year candidates deed Game Pass Ultimate connected time 1 this year: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Blue Prince. But we each cognize that the biggest entreaty of Game Pass are those day-one benefits for Xbox-published games, and this terms summation feels straight targeted astatine that. (For the record, PC Game Pass is going from $12 to $16.49 per month.)

This comes instantly connected the heels of the institution jacking up Xbox console prices for the 2nd clip successful the past 4 months, with the top-end Xbox Series X present carrying an eye-watering terms tag of $800. But that $800 astir sounds similar a damn bargain adjacent to the much-hyped ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC, which weighs successful astatine NINE-HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE U.S. DOLLARS. Sure, there’s a little powerful, much affordable mentation for $599, but cipher knows if that one’s worthy a damn, due to the fact that Microsoft has lone ever fto media and influencers get their hands connected the much almighty Ally X. Hopefully it proves useful, arsenic the Series S has for the non-hardcore gamer portion of the market.

Heck, the lone happening the Xbox folks haven’t raised prices connected are first-party games. Oh, they tried with The Outer Worlds 2, to beryllium wide – and they inevitably volition adjacent twelvemonth erstwhile Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, Forza Horizon 6, etc. driblet – but the Xbox assemblage wasn’t having immoderate of that, and Microsoft relented.

I recognize we unrecorded successful brainsick times, and that Sony and Nintendo are not precisely blameless present either aft each of them raised prices connected their ain aging hardware successful the past twelvemonth (with Nintendo besides aggressively raising bundle prices for the Switch 2 procreation arsenic well). Blame the Trump tariffs if you privation to (heck, Microsoft does), but I’m sorry: astatine the extremity of the day, the subordinate stops with Microsoft. This is simply a institution with a marketplace headdress of astir $4 trillion, who has done layoff aft layoff, aft spending upwards of $80 cardinal connected workplace and steadfast acquisitions. And it’s just to wonderment if those naysayers who question the sustainability of Game Pass and its concern exemplary are being proven close with this latest, deepest circular of terms hikes.

What’s worse is that, successful the bigger picture, we’ve reached a bittersweet constituent wherever gaming is becoming little accessible to caller players alternatively than more. Historically, console prices spell down and the size and prime of the crippled room goes up implicit the people of a generation, starring to much units sold and a healthier ecosystem for everyone wrong it. And portion again, the blasted for the lack of that this procreation does not remainder squarely connected Microsoft’s shoulders, the actions of Team Xbox are of a institution that isn’t showing a batch of empathy towards its customers arsenic the outgo of groceries, gas, and different bare essentials keeps going up. Again, these larger economical issues aren’t Microsoft’s fault, and it has to contend with rising improvement costs too, but they are choosing nett implicit players.

As such, portion I admit that this Xbox console procreation isn’t implicit yet, it’s astir surely going to beryllium remembered archetypal and foremost for Microsoft’s greed: 2 hardware terms increases (and counting), 3 Xbox Game Pass terms increases (and counting), 1 bundle terms summation (so far), and tens of thousands of layoffs arsenic good arsenic aggregate workplace closures.

It’s benignant of a monkey’s paw situation, really: each Xbox gamers person wanted since the commencement of the catastrophic Xbox One procreation was a dependable proviso of large first-party games. Well, successful 2025 we’re yet getting that – and arsenic I’ve already mentioned, 2026 is shaping up to beryllium a banger excessively – but it’s coming astatine the outgo of, well…practically everything else. But it’s not our fault. Instead, Microsoft’s greed is to blame.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's enforcement exertion of previews and big of some IGN's play Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, arsenic good arsenic our monthly(-ish) interrogation show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, truthful it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him connected Twitter astatine @DMC_Ryan.