After the announcement of the price increase of Xbox Series, why Microsoft still doesn’t reveal the price of ROG Xbox Ally

Home consoles will go up in October while the portable Xbox has yet to reveal its cost.

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There’s less than a month to go before the launch of ROG Xbox Ally, the first Microsoft portable console in collaboration with ASUS, and we still don’t know its official price. The company has kept the mystery surrounding its cost while adjusting its strategy on desktop, where Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles will receive a price increase in the United States starting October 3rd.

According to confirmation, the price of Xbox Series X will rise to $649, a increase justified by Microsoft due to “changes in the macroeconomic environment” and which only affects the North American market for now. Controllers and accessories will not be affected by this adjustment, nor will there be an increase for Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.

Why is Xbox increasing its price while the ROG Xbox Ally still hasn’t announced its own?

Although Microsoft is keeping the official price of ROG Xbox Ally a secret, circulating figures place the standard model at €599 and the ROG Ally X at €899 in Europe. The most striking detail is that the basic edition would have a slight surcharge compared to the direct conversion from dollars, something common in these types of technological launches due to taxes, tariffs, and distribution costs inherent to the European market.

This silence surrounding the portable console contrasts with the already official decision to raise the price of desktop consoles, which raises questions about Microsoft’s strategy at a delicate time. The company seems to be carefully calibrating its movements: on the one hand, the impetus of Xbox Game Pass, which remains the great driver of loyalty and growth; on the other hand, the growing interest in the portable sector, where it seeks to compete with devices like Steam Deck.

Everything suggests that Microsoft may be carefully measuring the timing to reveal the price of its new machine and avoid having the price increase of Xbox Series X steal the spotlight from such an anticipated announcement.