Microsoft has raised global prices for its Xbox consoles, citing increased development costs and its "market conditions".

Starting today, the Xbox Series S console will rise £50, with the new price of £299.99, and the more powerful Xbox Series X has risen by £20 – or the additional storage space for the model is £40.

This is the U.S. tariffs – experts predict that this will raise prices for consumers – inspire global economic uncertainty. However, Microsoft has not made it clear that tariffs are assists.

Competitor Sony has announced its own price increase, with the PlayStation 5's disc-free digital version added £40 in the UK.

It represents a huge change in an industry that usually falls in the years after the console is launched.

"We understand these changes are challenging," Microsoft said in a blog post.

“They are carefully considered given the rising market conditions and development costs.”

Prices are higher in the US than in the UK, with the X Series rising by $100 (£75) to $130 depending on the model.

Christopher Dring, who wrote about the gaming industry in the gaming business newsletter, had previously told the BBC that he expects the “ribsistance” of U.S. tariffs to be behind the global pricing decision.

“The United States is the biggest market for video game consoles, rather than simply rising prices there, but people like PlayStation may raise pricing globally to protect the U.S. market to protect them from their best efforts,” he said.

Historically, prices would have fallen in the years since the console was released, but this generation has been the opposite.

Sony initially listed the PlayStation 5 digital version at £360 when it launched in 2020, but the price has risen to its current £429.99 RRP over the years.

Meanwhile, the cost of Xbox Games is also questionable in the future, with the company revealing that it expects "some of our new, first-party games" to be priced at $79.99 in 2025.

This is Nintendo's upcoming retail price announced by the Mario Kart community, a cost that has attracted the attention of gamers who call it "inaccessible."

But unlike Mario Kart, it will cost less if purchased digitally instead of in a physical box, and Microsoft says its new price will be the same throughout the situation.

It also articulates that it does not intend to raise the price of existing games, only some new titles developed by the company itself.

But Microsoft declined to say whether it plans to increase the price of future games in the UK, too.

"Local pricing may vary across countries and platforms," ​​the company said.