Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra has recently thrown shade at Microsoft’s Xbox price hikes, claiming that they are motivated by profit issues, not tariffs. 2025 has marked a difficult time for the gaming industry, as essentially all console manufacturers raised prices after the United States imposed tariffs on the rest of the world, and Xbox was no exception.
Microsoft has recently raised the price of Xbox consoles for the second time in 2025. Back in May, the company hiked the price of the Xbox Series X/S, also affecting some limited-edition controllers and other gaming devices. In the latest announcement, Microsoft revealed that the price of the Xbox Series S 512GB will go from $380 to $400, with the 1TB model going from $430 to $450. The Xbox Series X Digital will increase from $550 to $600, and the standard edition will become available for $650 instead of the usual $600. The latest price increases will take effect on October 3 in the United States.
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Former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra Blames Recent Xbox's Price Increase on Profits
Mike Ybarra has recently addressed these changes, saying that while the first price hikes were indeed necessary due to the tariffs imposed on other countries by US President Donald Trump, the reason the prices keep going up is due to “profit issues.” According to Ybarra, “profits are not where they should be” at Xbox, and he clarified when responding to a user that the tariffs are an excuse to “make the consumers pay for those problems” with profitability.
That’s not the first time Ybarra threw shade at Xbox this year. In August, for example, Ybarra criticized Call of Duty, claiming that Battlefield 6 would “boot stomp” the franchise this year. At the time, Ybarra also said that at least “Call of Duty won’t be lazy anymore,” and the public will get better first-person shooters because of the increased competition in the genre.
Back in April, Mike Ybarra also threw shade at Oblivion Remastered soon after the title was shadow-dropped. While the executive did not directly name Oblivion Remastered at the time, he claimed to be skeptical of “20-year-old remasters,” saying that what was once seen as fantastic simply does not hold up against modern masterpieces such as Elden Ring.
- Brand
- Microsoft
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $499
- Operating System
- Proprietary (Windows-based)
- Processor
- Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
- 720p - 4K UHD