Microsoft has confirmed that starting next year, it would be raising the price of its first-party games from $60 to $70.

This change brings Microsoft into the same category of publishers and game developers that claim rising development costs and high maintenance costs of online games, among other reasons for raising their prices. Of course, what these companies do not mention is that the video game industry has been experiencing record profits for a few years now.

Regardless, all Microsoft first party games will cost $70 from now on. It is worth noting that this is the base price of just the vanilla version of whatever game they release. There may be additional costs due to DLC, special editions, possible subscriptions, and other such monetization tactics.

The game that gets to kick off this new era of $70 Microsoft games is none other than the much-anticipated space exploration game, Starfield.

It is hardly surprising that Microsoft made this shift. It is the current trend in the AAA games industry. We are now living in the era of $70 games and subscription models after all.

When it comes to Microsoft’s decision, there is one silver lining for consumers. First-party games from Microsoft will be available day one on Game Pass. 

The topic of pricing AAA games is a hotly debated one. One perspective is that the games cost more to make so players should pay more to enjoy them. 

Another perspective is that games have been selling more copies to more people than ever before and earning in billions so the industry doesn’t need to put additional financial pressure on players.

Where do you fall on this debate? Is it fine for Starfield, a game released by Bethesda, to be priced at $70? Does Xbox Game Pass adequately soften the blow?