The news comes at an interesting time for Microsoft, as the company heads to court today to face the FTC as the agency is requesting a preliminary injunction that would prevent Microsoft from closing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. “We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market,” Perez told The Verge. The announcements are not entirely surprising, considering Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned last October that the price of Xbox hardware and Game Pass would go up at some point. This is the first time that Microsoft has announced an increase for Xbox Game Pass since the service launched in 2017. However, the price of PC Game Pass will remain at $9.99 a month. Beginning July 6, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $16.99 (a $2 increase), and regular Xbox Game Pass will now cost $10.99 monthly (a $1 increase). However, the price of Xbox Game Pass will increase in all countries with the service. Important to note that the Xbox Series S will remain at the same price of $299.99 for the 512GB model or $349.99 for the 1TB model. The Verge notes that the pricing will impact most countries (not including the US), explaining that the cost of an Xbox Series X will be £479.99 in the UK, €549.99 across most European markets, CAD $649.99 in Canada, and AUD $799.99 in Australia.

Microsoft will increase the price of its high-end ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X, beginning August 1. In a statement sent to the outlet, Kari Perez, the head of communications at Xbox, confirmed the price hikes.

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