From next month which is 2023, the games from Xbox Game Studios like Redfall, Starfield, and Forza Motorsport will be priced at $69.99 instead of the usual $59.99.
This price increase will help Microsoft match the pricing its competitors are offering like Sony, Ubisoft, and Take-Two.
According to a statement by Microsoft:
We’ve held on price increases until after the holidays so families can enjoy the gift of gaming. Starting in 2023 our new, built for next-gen, full-priced games, including Forza Motorsport, Redfall, and Starfield, will launch at $69.99 USD on all platforms. This price reflects the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles. As with all games developed by our teams at Xbox, they will also be available with Game Pass the same day they launch
The price increase was already hinted by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer:
We’ve held price on our console, we’ve held price on games and our subscription. I don’t think we’ll be able to do that forever. I do think at some point we’ll have to raise some prices on certain things, but going into this holiday we thought it was really important that we maintain the prices that we have
The $70 game era was started by Sony on the release of PS5 and later on Xbox finally adopted this and also focused on offering its own games at launch on Xbox Game Pass.