Funny deterrent strategy
It’s one thing that Xbox decides to no longer develop exclusives for its consoles, but we should ensure that we don’t completely discourage studios and independents who want to develop games on Xbox. Even if major publishers like Square Enix are returning to the multiplatform strategy, it is not uncommon to see a game skipping an Xbox version, like Absolum quite recently.
This is why we will be (half) surprised to see The Verge announce that Microsoft has implemented a price increase for Xbox development kits. Previously sold at 1500 dollars, they now go to 2000 dollarswhich is justified by “ macroeconomic developments “. Understand by this the measures on tariffs of the Trump government, which disrupt the development of such machines. But since it is not a mass-sold product, one would still have believed that Microsoft would refrain from increasing the price of a development kit, a symbolic tool that is essential for studios and independents to be able to properly develop Xbox versions of their games.
This change would a priori be global and would not only affect the United States. And if 500 dollars is not going to change much for certain studios, for independent developers, this increase is more than significant. We won’t be too surprised if fewer and fewer small independents no longer prioritize the Xbox Series.