Your Move, Sony: Microsoft Unveils Aussie Next-Gen Xbox Pricing

The next-gen ball is now firmly in Sony’s court with Australian and New Zealand pricing being revealed for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.

Following yesterday’s release of the US pricing, Microsoft announced on its Xbox ANZ Twitter feed that the flagship Series X will cost $749 AUD, or $799 NZD, while the lower-end digital-only Series S will retail for $499 AUD or $549 NZD. This represents roughly a $60 markup over the converted US price for the Series X, and a $90 markup for the Series S.

Xbox has managed to get ahead of the PlayStation 5 with its pricing announcement; however, Microsoft may need to beware, as Sony has a history of humiliating its console rivals who jump the gun by outdoing them on features and price. Famously, at the first E3 in 1995, the “price heard around the world” effectively killed the Sega Saturn – launched on the same day as Sega’s press conference for $399 USD – when Sony America’s Steve Race took the podium and simply said “two ninety-nine” before walking off.

More recently, Microsoft itself has felt the sting of Sony’s mockery: in 2013, the Japanese manufacturer lampooned convoluted policies around used games for the Xbox One with a brief video offering “instructions” for how to share PS4 games with friends.