Xbox has quietly raised the price of its Xbox Development Kit from $1,500 to $2,000 — a roughly 33% increase — a change first reported by The Verge. The hike follows other recent cost adjustments from the company (including a Game Pass subscription increase that sparked widespread backlash) and will directly affect both developers and players.
Dev kits are specialized console units outfitted with development tools and debugging features that studios use to build, test, and optimize games for a platform. The number of kits a studio needs varies with team size and workflow: a small indie team may get by with one or two units, while larger teams often require multiple kits to run simultaneous tests and platform-specific QA.
Microsoft has defended the new price by saying it “reflects macroeconomic developments,” the same justification it used for earlier cost changes. While that rationale coincides with recently announced 30% tariffs on Chinese imports, it’s worth noting that Microsoft reported $23.5 billion in gaming revenue in 2025, up from $21.5 billion the year before.
Comparatively, PlayStation hasn’t made PS5 dev-kit pricing public, and Sony occasionally supplies kits through its PlayStation Partners program. Nintendo Switch dev kits for the original console were reported to be around $440. One could argue that the Xbox Series X dev kit’s higher price reflects more complex hardware and tooling, but $2,000 still feels steep given Microsoft’s scale.
There is a silver lining for small studios: Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program continues to offer two complimentary dev kits to independent developers. While program terms can change, that provision should help mitigate the impact of this price increase on many indie teams — at least for the time being.
Source: Polygon
