{"id":891484,"date":"2026-10-23T02:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T02:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891484\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T02:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T02:52:10","slug":"the-next-gen-xbox-wont-cost-you-1800-it-cant-can-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891484\/","title":{"rendered":"The next-gen Xbox won\u2019t cost you $1,800. It can\u2019t. Can it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fortune dropped<\/a> a bombshell report on the future of gaming this week. According to the publication\u2019s Microsoft insiders, the next Xbox is projected to cost between $1,200 and $1,800<\/a> when it arrives in 2028.<\/p>\n

My first reaction: The next Xbox is dead on arrival. It\u2019s DOA.<\/p>\n

My second thought: Microsoft knows people won\u2019t pay that much. It couldn\u2019t possibly charge that much money if it wants next gen to be a success. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t release it at all,\u201d former Microsoft exec Mike Ybarra recently said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My third thought: Didn\u2019t Microsoft already say out loud that it knows people won\u2019t pay that much?<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t old Xbox boss Phil Spencer say<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019re not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles\u201d?Didn\u2019t new Xbox boss Asha Sharma say<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019ve reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend\u201d on a box?Didn\u2019t Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball say<\/a> the entire company would change its practices to make sure it\u2019s affordable?Didn\u2019t Sharma say Xbox would need to adopt \u201cradically different business models\u201d<\/a> to keep Xbox from being too pricey?<\/p>\n

Did Fortune get it wrong?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Fortune\u2019s insiders are the problem here. With today\u2019s incredibly overpriced RAM and storage, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if it cost over a thousand dollars to build, package, distribute, and sell \u201cthe largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation,\u201d as former Xbox president Sarah Bond called the next Xbox back in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there are at least five ways the report could be correct without making you pay all that money at once. I just don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to like most of them.<\/p>\n

Subsidies: Microsoft could pay to give you a discount<\/p>\n

The least-likely possibility is the one Fortune suggests itself. Let\u2019s look at the original quote, bolding mine:<\/p>\n

[\u2026] the price of the Helix console has internally been projected to cost consumers between $1,200 and $1,800, unless Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost.<\/p>\n

Historically, Microsoft has subsidized the Xbox. Microsoft sold boxes at a loss right out of the gate, making its profits when you buy games and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions instead of on the hardware alone. That\u2019s not our speculation \u2014 it\u2019s exactly what Microsoft told The Verge in 2021<\/a>. In 2023, we learned that Microsoft may have spent $1.5 billion<\/a> to make sure it could sell the Xbox Series X and S at $499 and $299 respectively, instead of what they actually cost.<\/p>\n

But Microsoft has suggested that it\u2019s done with hardware subsidies. \u201cGoing forward, this cannot continue,\u201d wrote Sharma in her \u201cXbox reset\u201d memo<\/a>, referring to the $20 billion in content, platform, and hardware subsidies Microsoft made over the past five years.<\/p>\n

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella echoed that idea on the Hard Fork podcast<\/a>: \u201cNo one can accuse Microsoft of not having invested for the last 25 years, and now we have to turn this into a sustainable business.\u201d<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just new management that\u2019s hinting at no more subsidies: Bond primed the pump for a $1,000 box when she called Helix \u201ca very premium, very high-end curated experience\u201d late last year<\/a>, comparing it to gaming PCs like the $1,000 Xbox Ally X handheld.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Microsoft has changed its mind since then. \u201cWe are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix,\u201d Ball said in June<\/a>, referring to affordability. \u201cThe plan\u2019s the plan until it\u2019s not the plan,\u201d Sharma said in February<\/a> (though not about affordability specifically).<\/p>\n

But subsidies would be a tremendous risk if the Helix still plays PC games in addition to Xbox ones<\/a>. Valve\u2019s Steam is by far the dominant PC gaming platform \u2014 so PC gamers who buy a Helix won\u2019t help Microsoft recoup its money.<\/p>\n

Subscription: \u201cGet it free with 36 months of Xbox Game Pass and qualifying trade-in\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another way Microsoft could subsidize a $1,200 Xbox.<\/p>\n

Today, AT&T will give you a $1,200 iPhone 18 Pro for $0* \u2014 if you lock yourself into 36 months of AT&T phone service that costs $100 or more per month and trade in a recent phone, too.<\/p>\n

Microsoft could do the same with a new, pricier tier of its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service, effectively bundling the games with the console and making you slowly pay for both at the same time. Perhaps you\u2019ll have the option to buy an \u201cunlocked\u201d Xbox for full price, but it won\u2019t be the norm.<\/p>\n

To make it happen directly, Microsoft would need a pricier new tier of Xbox Game Pass, which wouldn\u2019t necessarily align with the company\u2019s recent moves. Sharma actually cut the price of Game Pass Ultimate to $22.99 a month in April<\/a>, writing that \u201cGame Pass has become too expensive for players,\u201d while removing Call of Duty games and unlimited access to Xbox Cloud Gaming<\/a> from the deal.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if it would work. People feel naked leaving the house without phone service. They might not feel the same about games. Subscription fatigue is real. But if it worked, Microsoft\u2019s moat would be stronger than ever. You\u2019ll be more likely to play the games you\u2019ve already paid for and are committed to keep paying for. Many would get sucked into a profitable upgrade cycle, just like they do with phones, since they can buy the next Xbox for \u201c$0\u201d as soon as it comes out.<\/p>\n

Cellphone subsidies have been around nearly as long as pricey phones<\/a>: The 1994 IBM Simon, arguably the first smartphone, eventually cost half its $1,100 price tag if you signed a contract with BellSouth. My first phone, a Kyocera QCP-6035 with a built-in PalmPilot, was subsidized when it arrived in 2001. So it\u2019s not exactly a \u201cradical new business model,\u201d but it would be new for game consoles.<\/p>\n

Rental: Maybe most people won\u2019t own a Helix themselves<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also possible that Microsoft simply doesn\u2019t plan to sell a console to the masses anymore \u2014 it can sell an $1,800 Xbox to those who can afford \u201cvideo game ownership\u201d and try to hook everyone else on the Netflix model.<\/p>\n

After all, the \u201cK-shaped economy<\/a>\u201d and RAMageddon<\/a> have already made gaming PCs and existing game consoles into luxury goods. Society\u2019s wealthier individuals seem perfectly happy to pay inflated prices for the few consoles Sony and Microsoft still pump out.<\/p>\n

While PS5 sales plummeted after Sony\u2019s price hikes<\/a>, that may have been about component shortages rather than decreased demand. Xbox sales reportedly rose<\/a> over a similar period, and Microsoft has justified repeated, dramatic price hikes<\/a> on its consoles since May 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you definitively, demand for our console exceeds supply. We are putting them in as many stores as possible, we are producing them as quickly as possible. There is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that,\u201d Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball told The Game Business<\/a> in June, blaming RAM shortages.<\/p>\n

But Microsoft has another way of giving less affluent people access to \u201cnext-gen\u201d Xbox power. It can rent you one. The company just launched pay-as-you-go cloud gaming<\/a> starting at $3.99 for 10 hours of cloud gaming (50 hours for $11.99).<\/p>\n

Maybe all of Microsoft\u2019s recent talk about affordability isn\u2019t about the masses owning a next-gen console. Maybe it\u2019s about finding an affordable way for people to \u201cplay Xbox\u201d without owning the games at all.<\/p>\n

The next gen is the current gen<\/p>\n

After Fortune\u2019s report, some of the very first reactions I saw boiled down to this: \u201cI\u2019m out. Forget next gen, I\u2019m going to stick with my existing Xbox\/PlayStation\/Switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019ll be the reality for many people if the Xbox costs over a thousand bucks. But if the RAM shortage continues \u2014 if Microsoft knows it\u2019ll sell every Xbox it can make to wealthy individuals because it can\u2019t make a lot \u2014 it\u2019s not necessarily a huge risk to sell it sky-high on day one.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Xbox Helix will be an early adopter console, the same way the iPhone Duo is an early adopter phone<\/a>, the same way the Steam Frame is an early adopter headset<\/a>. These products are selling out instantly despite their high price tags, leaving many would-be buyers in the cold. They\u2019re shipping messy and unfinished, but that\u2019s okay because early adopters want to come along for the ride.<\/p>\n

Microsoft knows the same is true of some Xbox buyers, because it helped ship an unfinished $1,000 Xbox Ally X<\/a> handheld even before the RAM crisis, and the $1,300 Xbox Ally X20 follow-up is already sold out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But if Microsoft splits the Xbox audience into \u201chave\u201d and \u201chave-not,\u201d it means the next generation won\u2019t truly arrive. Game developers won\u2019t spend all their effort targeting a console people can\u2019t buy. The next Xbox won\u2019t be any more necessary than a PS5 Pro<\/a> if you already own a PS5. In industry lingo, the Helix would be a \u201cmid-cycle refresh\u201d instead of true next gen.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t hate that, though, and neither would many video game execs. They\u2019ve long complained that the pace of technology has ballooned the cost of building a video game to unsustainable levels, leading to today\u2019s world where too many development teams are cut to the bone right after their games ship.<\/p>\n

Former PlayStation and Xbox execs like Shuhei Yoshida, Shawn Layden, and Mike Ybarra have argued that the next gen isn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cStick with PS5 Pro\/Series X until prices normalize. The capabilities of those boxes are both fine for 99% of the audience. No one is screaming \u2018I need a more powerful console\u2019 right now,\u201d Ybarra tweeted<\/a> on October 20th.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [Sony and Nintendo] should try to keep the current generation as long as possible, because I think people are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2,\u201d Yoshida told me on The Vergecast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve plateaued on the tech, frankly,\u201d Layden told GamesIndustry.biz in 2025<\/a>. (He\u2019s said similar before<\/a> and since<\/a>.) \u201cMake it cheaper and simpler. Let\u2019s do that instead. And let\u2019s find a way to have more hardware companies participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microsoft and its chip partner AMD have already taken one step to help extend the current generation \u2014 AMD\u2019s performance-enhancing FSR 4.1 is coming to Xbox Series S and X<\/a>, which should make it easier for both to deliver crisp 4K images to your TV.<\/p>\n

Even if Microsoft ships a $1,800 console, the company\u2019s been clear it won\u2019t be the only Xbox you can buy. Sharma has publicly said that Helix will be a \u201cfamily of devices,\u201d<\/a> which has been broadly interpreted to mean that Microsoft will let PC industry partners like Asus sell their own \u201cXbox\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

If the reporting pans out, that wouldn\u2019t just be a cobranded Xbox Ally handheld that runs Windows \u2014 Asus could make a console-shaped box that runs a Windows-based Xbox OS, too.<\/p>\n

Some of those partners could offer more affordable, less powerful Xboxes than Microsoft\u2019s own flagship box, perhaps with less storage and memory. Microsoft, too, might have creative solutions for storage, like how the company shipped the Xbox 360 with different-size hard drives, or none at all, to make it more affordable. \u201cWe will have to empower customers to have very flexible storage offerings,\u201d Sharma said in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or you could buy another Xbox that\u2019s likely going to continue to count as part of Microsoft\u2019s \u201cfamily\u201d: the existing Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.<\/p>\n

This can all work because games don\u2019t need to target a single console anymore; they haven\u2019t needed to for a long time. An Xbox One game runs on an Xbox One X and an Xbox Series S and an Xbox Series X because they\u2019re all effectively AMD-powered Windows PCs, just with different amounts of performance on tap. The Xbox Helix is a powerful extension of the same continuum<\/a>. The same is true of PlayStation 4, PS4 Pro, PS5, PS5 Pro, and presumably PS6, minus the Windows part.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a particular piece of hardware will stand out as the one developers should target as the baseline for \u201cit looks and runs great on Xbox,\u201d the same way the Steam Deck handheld became a baseline for PC game developers starting in 2022. Maybe, like the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch, it\u2019ll help reset our expectations of what a top-shelf game needs to look like.<\/p>\n

At this rate, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the existing Xbox Series S will be the one. But it could also be Microsoft\u2019s own next handheld Xbox. Fortune\u2019s insiders say it\u2019s coming holiday 2027.<\/p>\n

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See All Xbox<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fortune dropped a bombshell report on the future of gaming this week. According to the publication\u2019s Microsoft insiders,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":891485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[38965,559,1281,172,74,1298],"class_list":["post-891484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-column","tag-gaming","tag-microsoft","tag-tech","tag-technology","tag-xbox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}