A new report from The Verge reveals that following the price hike of Xbox Series X/S consoles in the US (the second one in the US in 2025), raising the price of Xbox Game Pass, and the release of a very expensive Xbox-branded, ASUS-made handheld, it’s not just the average Xbox fan and consumer who’s paying more for Xbox and Xbox-branded hardware. Game developers also have to pay more now for Xbox development kits.

Sources speaking to The Verge claim that the price for an Xbox development kit has jumped 33%, from its old $1,500 price tag to its new $2,000 USD price tag. Just like when Microsoft announced the price hike for Series X/S consoles, the increase “reflects macroeconomic developments.” However, unlike the recent price increase in the US for the Series X/S, this price hike goes for anyone across the globe looking to grab a development kit.

It’s worth noting here that development kit versions of consoles are inherently far more expensive than their consumer-facing counterparts. They come loaded with additional hardware and power that’s designed to make them capable of testing various unfinished and unoptimized versions of games, and that’s before even getting to the different suite of software options available to developers when they plug their games into these development kits to test them for a commercial release.

That’s all to say that the initial $1,500 price tag is definitely expensive, but it’s not out of the question that a development kit costs at least four figures to acquire. It’s also worth noting that the price of development kits is often a difficult thing to pin down, since that’s usually the sort of detail only shared under NDAs between game developers and manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

What’s notable about this price increase is that it comes at a time when Microsoft has decidedly shirked off any notion that it is the home of ‘the best deal in gaming’ anymore and is now ‘the most expensive deal in gaming’ between the cost of an Xbox console and its premium subscription service, along with the fact that, just like the price increase of the Series X/S consoles, the price of development kits seems to be going up, at least in part, due to tariffs implemented by the current United States administration.

Despite several major successes, the video game industry, particularly in the United States, has remained in dire straits for the last few years. Raising the barrier to entry for developers who are potentially looking to put their games on Xbox makes it feel like Microsoft is trying to catch flies with vinegar rather than honey. Why would a studio that’s already concerned about making the money they spend on making their game back go with a platform that has made it more expensive to be a part of from the jump?

Even considering that you can technically turn any Series X/S console you buy into a development kit by digging into the settings and paying a fee to Microsoft to get it up and running properly, due to the significant hardware limitations between what you get in a Series X versus the development kit, that’s likely not an option for many developers. Of course, it all depends on the kind of game you’re making, but the point stands that just using consumer-grade Series consoles is not a solid solution to getting around this price hike.

At least it lines up with what seems to be Microsoft’s new approach to make Xbox the most expensive deal in gaming, whether you’re playing the games, or making them.

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