Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "MICROSOFT RAISES XBOX PRICES FOR THIRD TIME IN 13 MONTHS"

Episode Date: June 27, 2026

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠ In this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, Analytic Dreamz breaks down Microsoft’s third major Xbox console price increase, effective August 1, 2026. Facing skyrocketing memory and storage costs—now over 2.5x higher and projected to reach 5x by 2027—Microsoft is raising prices across the board. The Xbox Series S jumps $100 to $499-$500, while 1TB models of the Series S and Series X rise $150, pushing the flagship Series X Disc to $800. The 2TB Series X is being discontinued entirely.Analytic Dreamz examines how explosive AI data center demand is fueling the global component shortage, impacting not just Xbox but PlayStation, Nintendo Switch 2, Apple, and Valve. The segment also covers Microsoft’s ongoing gaming division challenges, upcoming layoffs, leadership changes under Asha Sharma, and uncertainty surrounding the next-gen Project Helix console.Discover the full story behind the hikes, financing options, refurbished alternatives, and what this means for gamers and the future of Xbox hardware. Analytic Dreamz delivers the unfiltered analysis on one of the biggest stories in gaming right now. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Now, of course, you already know that, hey, come on. Just look at the state of gaming. I was trying to. What is going on? Now, of course, when it comes to notorious mass effect, we get into the gaming and music IPs that notoriously affect the masses. So when it comes to this specific news, I got to bring y'all. You guys.

see that's the problem it's a sad day in history as not only is Microsoft having Xbox increased their prices by 100 for the Xbox Series S

500 and 12 gigabyte version increase in the price by $150 for the Xbox Series X to 1 terabyte version increasing the Xbox Series X digital version as far as the 1 terabyte by $150 again and then of course increasing the Xbox Series X disk version for one terabyte with another $150 increase.

Simply put all the Xbox current gen prices are going up. Shepard, just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? And before we take a moment of silence, I'm not going to lie to you. Usually, I try to let y'all know why this is occurring. and for this specific segment, we have to blame Steam because, of course, the steam machine

came out with this price where I think it's about $1,000, yeah, it's $1,49 for the $512 gigabyte version, and that is without the controller. How are you going to play the steam machine without a controller? Guess what? Valve wants you to figure it out. They want you to turn into modern day Gene Gray.

All right, my fault. Back to what I'm saying. So when it comes to the steam machine being $1,049, safe to say, whenever the specs came out, the masses were basically saying to themselves, you're telling me a console that is about to come out is already outdated. You guys. See, that's the problem. As when it comes to the current gen consoles, I mean, of course, you know, it is powerful than the Nintendo Switch 2, so it has that going for it. You know what I'm saying? Shout to Val, right?

But in all seriousness. when it comes to the Xbox series X in the PS5 is severely underpowered. But when it comes to the Xbox series S, it's slightly comparable as far as on the same level when it comes to the actual specs. As we're not going to get into the GPU and CPU and RAM of the steam machine because we're currently talking about Xbox. I just want to let you know that a console that's already out and is going to be more powerful than a console that's yet to come out as far as the steam machine. and that specific console is priced at $1,000 without the controller. So with Abbya said, Microsoft's all there and they said to themselves, gamers about to put it up with this?

Or raise the prices exponentially. Because if we have more powerful hardware, why are we still at the $70-50 range? And why is the Xbox Series X the disc version set at $800? We need to raise that. Well, no, no, my fault. That's the new prices. basically they were like the xbox series x digital version for the one terabyte that was 50099 right and then they increased that to 750 and then you have the xbox series x the disc

version with the one terabyte that was 649 dollars and they increased that to 800 simply put i think those two consoles being more powerful than the steam machine led Microsoft to believe that they should follow up on steam machines horrendous PR that's currently going on and increase the price of a console that's objectively speaking way more powerful than it and it's still under the steam machine price but then you come to realize why would they also raise the prices of the Xbox series S as far as the 512 gigabyte version and the one terabyte version if the steam machine is going to to have better, well, slightly comparable specs and as a PC console hybrid.

And when it comes to the Xbox Series S being $100 increased as far as the 512 gigabyte version, and then when it comes to the one terabyte version being increased by $150, that means that now the Xbox Series S is going from $399 to $499. And then the Xbox Series S1 terabyte version is going from $449 to $599. So essentially, I'm blaming the steam machine. But of course, it's not like we're letting Microsoft on the hook. I'm just letting you know who started it in the first place. You guys.

See, that's the problem. Gamers want to know if GT-6 is going to set the precedent for new AAA games as far as the price point. They need to be asking, did Nintendo? Not Nintendo, my fault. Did Valve just due to unthinkable as far as setting the precedent for these egregious prices for out of their home? hardware because you already know the Xbox is working on a new console titled the Project Helix I believe I think right now it's titled Project Helix and they are definitely shooting for a very powerful piece of hardware as far as them also going the PC console hybrid route so I want to

be surprised if it costs between 1600 to $1,800 now of course I'm not advocating for it I'm just looking at the steam machine and the 512 gigabyte version being $1,000, the two terabyte version being $1,349. And I don't think it to myself, Project Helix is going to at least be $2 to $300 more expensive than the steam machine. So now we're setting the standard for what newer consoles are going to cost for the average everyday consumer for gamers out there. And I believe when it comes to the industry as a whole, this is going to,

be a bubble that ultimately bursts because of course the reason for this is because of the AI which we're going to get into in a second and all the data centers which are also going to get into in a second but to put in in layman's terms the gaming industry is struggling with the profits not being on the same level that it was in COVID and COVID gaming grew to a exponential level and then it came back to reality. once everybody was able to go back outside and they had a plethora of options when everybody was locked in the house playing whatever type of video game they was getting lost in the gaming industry was celebrating they was you know throwing celebrations they was through the roof and now that

they've came back to earth as far as the reality of the situation as far as people having more options for entertainment I think we're seeing companies not only lay people off because Xbox well Microsoft have laid off numerous amount of people but of course when it comes i think i actually had the numbers for the layoffs but i don't know if it's on here um oh i must not typed in it okay well when it comes to the layoffs i think the gaming industry is just basically reverting back to what it used to have because everybody started to raise the overhead because of the covid uh basically covid raising all the revenue prices for every single gaming company so the main thing that i want to get across in this specific segment is why this

happening? What does this mean for gaming with the future of gaming? And ultimately, I'm going to leave you with those two points and then you get to decide for yourself if you want to still participate in gaming. Because gaming is always been an expensive hobby. But nowadays, it's getting to the point where if you're a little Timmy and you see a console with four figures, they may not even be able to count the four. You know what I'm saying? I mean, um, they may be looking at their price ticket to themselves. How in the world could I even fix my face? to ask my parents for a $1,000 console. You guys.

See, that's the problem. I mean, five to 600. I mean, that's already a lie. But I kid you not. If a little kids go, goes to the store and they see something that has a thousand plus, they might as well just think it's a million dollars

in their brain. So why would they even fix their face to ask their parents for a console? And we're not even talking about middle-aged people as far as who may be in college, down bad or their luck, have no type of revenue coming in because, you know, once again,

they're in college. and then them thinking to themselves, how in the world would not be able to give out a thousand plus dollars to a console I may play every now and then? Because for me, obviously, this is my full-time job. So I could logically come to the conclusion of, okay, I could buy this and probably recoup. Somebody else who this isn't a full-time job or is barely even a hobby, how would they even logically come to the conclusion of needing a thousand plus dollar console unless they're going to play multiple amounts of games on that console and even that's more expensive so i think for the future of

gaming this is going to be a bubble that burst and we're going to see a lot more announcements like xbox had because you know they rose the prices in uh well they rose the prices today for all the consoles but they did have some type of pro consumer tactic as whenever i covered uh yeah i covered this April 26, 2026, how Xbox slashes the game pass ultimate price by $7. But the caveat was they removed the call of duty perk. I believe companies are going to start to come to the realization that if you keep increasing the prices, people are just simply not going to pay for it. So BetMGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has everything

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You're going to have to revert some of the price increases that we already saw Xbox doing with the Xbox Game Pass. So the future of gaming to me is basically group economics. And if everybody sticks together and don't advocate for these type of price increases, just watch how fast more news comes out like Xbox slash in the game past ultimate price by $7. You will be surprised on how fast a company will revert on their price increases just for competitive advantages. because don't forget, ladies and gentlemen, PlayStation 5, PS5 is currently just killing

Xbox Series X and S right now. Like, it's not even close. There's no type of console war. If somebody who's on the Xbox fandom, because of course me, I try to keep an objective and fair, but for somebody who's on the Xbox team saying to yourself that there's still a console war going on, tell that man, tell that woman.

What war? What war is going on? Just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? As far as the console war is completely non-existent, as the PS5 has sold 89 to 90 million units versus the Xbox series XNS selling collectively, $34 million. So basically, PlayStation is holding 72 to 73% of the current gym market share versus Xbox's 27%. You guys. See, that's the problem.

And then you come to realize that Microsoft saw all those numbers. And they say to themselves, let's increase the prices on our consoles that's already losing out the PlayStation. Make that make sense, ladies and gentlemen. But then, you know what I'm saying? As of course Xbox, well, of course Microsoft came out and gave a reason. They basically said the reason why we're increasing the prices is because, let me see if I can find this. Yeah, the reason why we're increasing the prices is because the console storage and memory prices have risen more than 2.5 times than 2.5 X. and basically 150% increase, well, 150% plus increase.

And Microsoft came out and said as well, Microsoft expects those costs to double again by fall 2027. And the Xbox leadership also projected the company could be paying five times more for storage and memory at 2027 than it did in 2024. Translation, everything is probably going to cost three to five times more by the time we get the 2027, 2028. What does I tell you about the gaming industry?

It basically lets you know that they could care less about your dollars. So in turn, we're going to make everything more expensive. It's almost as if they looked at the bottom line, saw that they was losing the PlayStation,

saw that they was not competing in the console realm, and the only type of conclusion they could come to is if we have less players, less charge them more. And that's just unfortunate. You guys,

See, that's the problem. As of course, even though all of these are obstacles for them to get over, I've basically given them a bunch of solutions. Well, I say solution. Basically, I've tried to give solutions because I don't like to talk about the problem while giving a couple solutions that's actually like, that's actionable items, in my opinion. If y'all remember, when I talked about, what was her name? Sarah Bond.

Is that what I'm seeing? That was her name, right? Yeah. Well, I talked about Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond leaving. and I talked about Asha coming in. I basically advocated for them to lower the prices on the game pads. I thought that was the most unique thing

they had going for them. But then you come to realize they actually cut the game pass prices. Now, I'm not saying like, oh, they listen to me and they cut the prices. But I think I get pretty solid advice. That's all I'm saying. You know what I'm saying?

Not too crazy. So as of right now, I believe the way that they're going about the pay now, no, no, buy now, pay later. Y'all are going to get mad at me. But I think it may, be the best solution.

Shepard. No, I'm just saying. Like, they came out and they officially said that you can buy now, pay later through partners, through Microsoft partnering with PayPal, Karna, Affirm, and flexible payments, such as paying for installments over weeks and months, or up to 24 months on consoles, games, and accessories. No subscription required. Eligibility-based helps affordability, of course, amid the price heights. So I think that's a semi-W move.

If you're going to increase the prices, I like the way that they're increasing the options of even getting that console because at first glance, you may think this is a terrible idea. But some people out there who are very budget-friendly as far as budgeting the money, maybe, just maybe, they could budget enough

to pay that monthly fee instead of it all up front because usually it's how we pay for consoles. We pay for it all up front. And then we just think about, you know i mean i guess some people use after pay i guess it's already a thing but for microsoft who officially included in their system as far as how to pay for a console i think that would help out a lot of people who just don't have the upfront money but could pay it over time and i know some people may be like well if you can't afford it three times they don't buy once right

obviously that's true i'm just saying that this is a great option for somebody who's actually a gamer but can't afford the price up front because maybe just maybe little timio somebody out there could to the parents and be like i can work this much and pay for this monthly fee up to this point and then maybe the parents pay the rest right so i think that's a w idea i think that's a w implementation off obviously it's not going to fix the ultimate issue which is them horrendously losing the current gen console race to playstation five which is not going to like that's not going to overturn so right now project helix is the next thing they should be looking at but essentially what i'm talking about as far as the game

industry. One, I thought cutting the game past price was phenomenal. I think that by now, pay later is also phenomenal as far as giving people options. Now, of course, people who are already bad with money, this is going to just not be for, this shouldn't be for them. Of course it will. But I'm just talking about buy now, pay later being good for people who actually budget and are good with their money. Right. So what that means is the third advice, the third advice I would give, the third piece of advice is I think when it comes to the Xbox exclusives, they shouldn't have any. I didn't know how else to say. I kid you not.

They should not have any exclusive for the Xbox because it makes no sense. I mean, if you want revenue, you should not have any exclusives as of right now if your Xbox. Now, I know what you probably think of to yourself. That doesn't make any sense. Well, ladies and gentlemen, hold up. Y'all pay attention? Let me tell you one more thing. You know, give me a second.

You know what I'm saying? give me saying I got some numbers to read off to you. So basically, PlayStation is leading the current gym market by 70 to 72, 73%. 72 to 73%. Y'all, y'all paying attention? All right, they're paying attention. All right. So basically, Xbox has 27% of the gamer market share, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, what world would you recoup off of a expensive video game as far as a development budget with 27% of the gaming industry? Y'all let me know. Shepard. Y'all let me know. Just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? So as far as exclusives, until you can actually have 50-50 or 60-40 split with PlayStation, I don't think you should have any exclusives because it makes no sense when it comes to revenue-wise.

PlayStation can have exclusives because guess what? They have 72 to 73% of the entire gaming market share. So unless you want to cut your profits by more than half, ladies and gentlemen, you should never have exclusives. So that's my last thing. So, you know, when it comes to the game pass, they took me. my advice with that one? Well, I'm not going to say they took it. But you know what I'm saying? I did say it early. And that's why I gave you the timestamp. So you can go back to the actual segment.

And fact-shade, February 27th, 2026, Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and the Xbox crisis explained. I gave them the advice of lowering the game pass price. And of course, you know, I'm not saying they listened to me. But April 26, 2026, they slashed the Xbox game ultimate price by $7. Now, of course, when it comes to right now and they're raising all the prices for all the consoles. I think the next solution because it's obviously all about revenue for

Microsoft. So you can't really give advice like, oh, just make everything free. Like, you know, they lost. How much they lose with Call of Duty again? Hold up. They lost about, um, they talked about this a while ago. Okay, so no, back to back. Let me see, 67%. No, that's not it.

The game pass. I'm trying to see what the game pass is at. I don't think I haven't on here. I could just look it up, but I'm pretty sure I covered it. Hmm. Maybe I didn't. I thought I didn't. Huh. Okay.

Give me a second. You know, as far as Mickey Research, you know, that's what we, you know, helps it. Let me see. All right. So after a little Mickey Research, safe to say that Xbox came out and they said they lost 300 million plus. Now, mind you, this was supposed to be the bread and butter. This is supposed to be the Grand Theft Auto. 2K. You get the point, right? It was supposed to be the leading revenue driver, which is why they

acquired Activision in the first place. Ladies and gentlemen, they lost over 300 million because of Call of Duty being on the Game Pass. Now, that is why you just can't give advice. Like, oh, just give it out for free. They can't do that. I mean, you know, they did that. They basically did that with putting Call of Duty on Game Pass. I'm not going to say it was completely free, but in their minds, they was having a pro-consumer tactic, which I even said back then, Game Pass was one of the more pro-consumer tools to be an avid gamer and they raised the prices expeditially it was like hold up now now all these all these pro-consumer tactics with lowering on the game pass originally as it's original price having all these popular games on it and y'all still not helping us when it comes to

the console war and PlayStation having like 70% of the market or the gamer base oh guess what the price is going right back up so i think the game pass price being slashed is one no exclusives i think is the other piece of advice I would give because it just doesn't make sense. Market-wise, even with PC, yeah, yeah, basically you need your game on PlayStation. It just doesn't make sense to have any exclusives. And I'm sorry, maybe with Project Helix, you'll be able to balance the gamer market or the gamer market share back up. But as of right now, the current gym market share is, you have a whopping 27%. I don't want to hear exclusive come out of Microsoft's mouth no more.

I mean Xbox is mouth. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So anyways, that's my last piece of advice. But when it comes to the rest of what you need to know, the main thing I wanted to get across is them increasing the prices. I just wanted to have a gamer discussion because a lot of people are going to take this and run with it as Xbox is dead.

Microsoft's is never dropping Xbox. Like I know when it comes to the top revenue for Microsoft, Microsoft 365 commercial, that's number one as far as productivity, office, cloud, etc. You have Intelligence, Cloud Azure server, which is number two. And then you have gaming. That's number three. And it's very the top two compared to three. It's a huge drop off.

Number one is Microsoft 365 commercial and productivity, right? That's 31 to 38% of Microsoft's revenue. Then you have Intelligent Cloud Azure server, which is 34% to 43% percent of the revenue for Microsoft. And then, of course, you have at number three, gaming, slash Xbox, which is a whopping 8%. So from one to two, from two to three, I mean, it's a significant jump. So then you have LinkedIn.

I even know they own that. So Microsoft apparently owns LinkedIn. 6% of revenue driver for Microsoft's in totality. And then you have Windows, devices, search, etc. That's 6% to 10% combined. So when it comes to gaming, I don't think they'll just

end up dropping Xbox because what are like LinkedIn, Windows device, I mean, they're going to put their, are they going to put their hopes and dreams into those companies? Are they going to make a new one? Of course not. I think Xbox is a strong brand. Microsoft's never going to kill it. I'm not going to say, well, saying never is kind of hard. But as of right now, it just makes no sense to kill the Xbox brand. Nobody, as far as Walmart, as far as Amazon, none of those humongous companies like a Microsoft is looking to get into console gaming. So right now you hold a grip on just the brand recognition,

So I believe there's no reason to kill Xbox. You just have to find different ways to get people to come back to your product. And I think no exclusives and cutting the price of the game pass, which you already did. You know, it wouldn't hurt to do it again. But I think those are the top two things they should focus on. So that being said, yeah, that's basically it. So there's a lot of things to get into when it comes to this price increase. I mean, as far as the timeline, I mean, May 2025 was the first increase for the Xbox Series X

that launched at $499, mind you. Right now, it's currently $800 if you wanted any indication on how the gaming industry is going. So May 2025 was the first increase. October 2025 was the second increase. Now, when it comes to August 26, which is, you know, of course, current timeline, that is the third increase. So they've risen the price three separate times. and Apple, Sony, Nintendo, Valve, all of these companies have been increasing their prices, but why is this one so significant?

I think it's because Xbox is losing the race horrendously when it comes to the console market share. So they're the last people to be able to pop out and be like, oh, we have more expensive prices. But I'm like, hold on now, no. Now I know. I know. I know that ain't who I think it is. Now I know. I know that ain't who I think it is.

So that's why people are upset because PlayStation is leading the console market by lot so for Xbox to increase the prices it doesn't make too much sense out of you know that they're not acting like they're desperate they're acting like it's a it's an even race between PlayStation and acting like they could do the same things that PlayStation the valve is out here doing and they need somebody needs to show them the market share expeditiously i kid you not so that's about it so that be it said click my link to my bio uh follow me on my social medias and of course if you're on spotify comment down below what do you think xbox slash Microsoft should do to get more of the current gym market into their favor.