Xbox is quietly working on its next-gen console, which will likely be the most expensive piece of hardware it’s ever produced.
Unfortunately it’s to be expected as with each new console the hardware gets more advanced and as such the price needs to reflect that. However gamers are left with an important question to answer, how much would you actually be willing to pay?
For reference the priciest Xbox Series X costs £589.99, and that’s for the 2TB storage version. Xbox president Sarah Bond did an interview with Variety last year speaking about the future of the company and while she didn’t share the prices being considered for the next console along she did tease it’ll be a premium bit of kit.
It’s widely believed the next Xbox will resemble a console / PC hybrid, so I’d expect it to cost as much as a mid to low-end PC. Adding to this the cost of both RAM and GPUs are reportedly going up this year, which is bad news for both PC and console gamers as this will surely impact the price of the latest PC builds, as well as the next Xbox and PlayStations.
So, with all of that in mind how much would you actually be willing to pay for the next Xbox?
According to a poll done by Pure Xbox, quite a bit. At the time of writing over 2,000 gamers have cast their votes with 13 percent saying they’d pay $900, another 13 percent willing to pay $1,000, and another 13 percent willing to pay even more.
I can’t speak for everyone but as someone who’s been as an Xbox gamer myself I think I can throw my two-cents in on this one too.
The PlayStation 5 Pro is more powerful than the Xbox Series X and is priced at just under £700 ($900), so I’d say that’s a safe bench mark for the next Xbox since I’d imagine it’ll at least be on par with Sony’s latest.
That rumour of it being comparable to a PC worries me though, as depending on the specs I think we could see a price going as high as £1,000, even more when you consider you’d probably need a better monitor / TV to get the most out of the system.
Now as much as I like Xbox games, that’s a little rich for my blood, and I’d probably only go as high as £800 – £850 ($1,000) if I had to buy it at launch. At that price though I’d probably hang around for a price-drop or sale.
I’m interested to see how much the Steam Machine costs in comparison though, because from the sound of things if you’re looking for a PC gaming experience that feels like a console, Valve’s latest bit of hardware seems far more appealing that Xbox’s.
