Former Blizzard President Throws Shade at Microsoft Over Continued Xbox Price Increases

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Mike Ybarra, formerly the president of Blizzard, recently criticized Microsoft’s price increases for the Xbox, suggesting they’re driven by the need to boost profits, not by tariffs. 2025 has been a challenging year for the gaming industry, with nearly all console makers raising prices following new tariffs imposed by the United States, and Xbox was among them.

Microsoft has increased the price of Xbox consoles again this year, marking the second price hike in 2025. They first raised prices in May for the Xbox Series X/S consoles, as well as some special controllers and accessories. Now, the Xbox Series S 512GB will cost $400 instead of $380, and the 1TB version will go up to $450 from $430. The digital version of the Xbox Series X will increase from $550 to $600, while the standard Xbox Series X will be priced at $650, a jump from its previous $600 price. These new prices will be effective in the United States starting October 3rd.

Former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra Blames Recent Xbox’s Price Increase on Profits

Mike Ybarra recently explained the recent price increases. He stated that while initial price hikes were caused by tariffs implemented by former US President Donald Trump, the continued increases are due to Xbox not making enough profit. Ybarra admitted that using the tariffs as a reason is essentially passing the blame – and the cost – onto consumers to cover Xbox’s profitability issues.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone from Battlefield come at Xbox this year! Back in August, a guy named Ybarra really went after *Call of Duty*, saying that *Battlefield 6* was going to completely crush it. He even said that *Call of Duty* needed to step up its game, which I honestly thought was a good thing – more competition usually means better shooters for all of us!

I remember back in April when Mike Ybarra seemed to downplay the surprise release of *Oblivion Remastered*. He didn’t mention it by name, but he basically said he wasn’t a fan of just re-releasing games from 20 years ago. He felt like what seemed amazing back then just doesn’t compare to modern games like *Elden Ring*.

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2025-09-23 17:49