Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said Microsoft loses between $100 and $200 on every Xbox Series X and S sold.
As reported by CNBC (and spotted by Eurogamer), Spencer said at WSJ Live that Microsoft subsidises the cost of its Xbox consoles with the expectation that people will spend money on its profitable add-on products later.
Losing $100 to $200 per console is a fairly significant amount given the Xbox Series X retails for $499 and the Xbox Series S retails for $299, but consumers then purchasing additional controllers, headsets, games, and subscription services like Xbox Live and Game Pass is seemingly enough to justify the hit on day one.
Spencer has admitted that Xbox can't maintain these console prices forever though, and its main competitor in Sony has already raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada.
"I do think at some point we'll have to raise the prices on certain things, but going into this holiday we thought it was important to maintain the prices," Spencer said in October.
That's not to say there are currently plans or timings in place to increase the prices, however, at least for consoles, as Spencer said in September that Microsoft currently has no plans to increase the price of the Xbox Series X or S.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.