Last week, gaming giant Microsoft announced its second U.S. price increase for the Xbox Series lineup within five months. The highest-end model, the 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X, will now cost $799.99, up from about $730 just a few months ago. Meanwhile, the standard Series X also rose—leaping from $599.99 to $649.99.
The initial price surge of the popular gaming console was attributed to new U.S. tariffs that led many hardware makers to raise costs to cover import fees. However, according to Mike Ybarra, the recent price bump is largely unrelated to trade or tariffs. On Friday, September 19, Ybarra took to Twitter to share his take on Microsoft's pricing decisions. Ybarra was president of Microsoft's own Blizzard Entertainment from 2021 until 2024, when he became the CEO of PrizePicks.
"Console price increases are not tariff issues, they are profit issues," he wrote, "And the reason why profits are not where they should be is a far, far deeper issue vs. the tariff excuse."
Since his farewell from Blizzard, Ybarra hasn't shied away from saying how he really feels. In a response to his initial tweet, he continued, "Tariffs went up once so that does justify the single price increase. An excuse to continue raising prices, with no new increase in tariffs, is simply a different problem and they are going to make consumers continue to pay for those problems."
Gamers on Reddit shared their thoughts on Ybarra's theory. "That’s always been a fear of mine. Not only do tariffs legitimately raise prices but they also provide a convenient excuse for greedy companies to raise them even further," said one commenter. Another added, "It's 2020 all over again. Tariffs are a legitimate excuse to hike up prices, but just like the pandemic those prices aren't going to drop back down when the issue blows over. The tariffs are a scapegoat for corporate greed, I agree."
While some Reddit users suggested taking Ybarra's comments with a grain of salt, his remarks still sparked a broader conversation about the shift from console gaming to PC.
