We’ve seen the Xbox Series X, and now we’ve finally seen some games we’ll be able to actually still down and play on the system. But a key question remains, probably the single most important question one to the average consumer: what is the damn thing going to cost? Despite revealing the system very early (much earlier than Sony, who has still yet to unveil their PS5), and the fact that we are probably less than 6 months away from the actual launch, we still have no idea what this machine will cost. Unfortunately, it seems Microsoft is intent on dragging that answer out.
Talking to Eurogamer, Jason Ronald was asked directly about what kind of price could be expected. Ronald dodged the question, insteading opting to say that the system was designed with a specific price in mind, saying that he was excited about what could be achieved at the price set, but used similar lanaguage to Xbox Head Phil Spencer in the past, saying the price was “agile.”
“I think Phil [Spencer]’s been pretty transparent. We designed the system with a price point in mind. We’re confident in the system we’ve designed, but at the same time, we’re going to be agile on price.
The short of it is we designed the system with a price point in mind, and it influenced the overall architecture of the system we have. You know, it’s kind of funny – as a lifelong gamer and as a game developer, we all always want more and more and more. At the same time, we know we have to deliver something at a compelling price point people all across the world are comfortable with and can afford. So it has been a key into the design of the system. And to be blunt, we’re pretty excited about what we put into that form factor.”
It’s unclear what “agile” means here, though it seems to imply the actual price point may or may not be set. Some people have looked at the individual parts of the system with speculation being that it could be as high as $600 USD, though most estimations seem to be at around $450-500. Whether Microsoft is playing a little game of chicken with Sony here to see who will reveal the price first or just want to avoid sticker shock remains to be seen, but they can’t hide that price forever if they expect people to buy it.
