Microsoft is dropping the value of its Xbox Series S console to $249.99 for the vacations. The new promotional worth begins at this time and consists of particular holiday-themed packaging. It’s a part of a sequence of Black Friday offers from Microsoft that features as much as $300 off the brand new Surface Laptop 5, $200 off choose Surface Pro 9 fashions, and as much as 67 % off Xbox digital video games.

While we noticed the Xbox Series S drop as little as $249 in a restricted supply that lasted simply hours at Woot earlier this yr, Microsoft’s official promotion means Best Buy, the Microsoft Store, and different retailers will all offer the console at this promotional worth.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer hinted at vacation offers for the Xbox Series S in a latest Decoder podcast. “During the holidays you might see some price promotions,” mentioned Spencer. It’s not clear precisely how lengthy the Xbox Series S will stay on the $249.99 promotional pricing, although.

While the Xbox Series S will see a brief worth reduce, the bigger, extra highly effective Xbox Series X will stay at its common retail worth of $499. Microsoft’s low cost on the Xbox Series S for the vacations is the alternative of what its essential rival, Sony, is doing. Sony hiked the value of the PS5 in Europe, Japan, and different markets just some months in the past.

The PS5 worth has jumped 10 % in Europe, 12.5 % in Japan, and round 6 % within the UK in a transfer that Sony blames on excessive inflation and adversarial foreign money traits. The worth of the PS5 within the US has not modified, although.

While Spencer initially mentioned Microsoft wouldn’t raise its Xbox prices in response to the worldwide financial system and Sony’s rises, he did trace that holding costs on subscriptions, video games, and consoles may not final lengthy after the vacations.

“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,” admitted Spencer throughout a latest Wall Street Journal tech convention. “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.”

Here are Microsoft’s full Black Friday offers: