It’s like clockwork. You give capitalists an opportunity to mask a price hike under the guise of something else, and they’ll take it every single time. Money is the only language they speak.
It's funny tho. Europe has no new tariffs against China or other countries from where the consoles come. Yet, they raise prices for us too. Well, what to say if not fuck you, microsoft and fuck you magastan? I'm not gonna pay for the tariffs an asshole who's not my president put in place in a country which is not mine.
I wonder what the “business reason” is beyond just making more money. Could they be hoping to make up lost revenue in America by raising prices elsewhere? Seems daft.
Maybe they don't want Americans to buy from those alternative sources either, e.g. ask my brother to pick up one of those cheap European consoles then figure out a way around the region lock.