How Much Did the Xbox One Cost at Launch?
By the Price Time Machine team · Updated
The Xbox One launch price was $499.99 when it launched in the United States on November 22, 2013. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $722.82 in September 2026 money, roughly 1.4 times the original price.
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Xbox One at a glance
- US launch price
- $499.99
- In today’s money
- ≈ $722.82November 2013 to September 2026 (CPI-U, BLS)
- US release date
- November 22, 2013
- Where it was designed
- Redmond, United StatesDeveloped by Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.
- Category
- Gaming & tech
- Price source
- en.wikipedia.org
Today’s price is the US launch price adjusted for US inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing the launch month with the latest published month. It updates automatically as new figures come out.
Why the Xbox One cost $499.99
Every launch console came bundled with a redesigned Kinect sensor, marketed as “Kinect 2.0”, for motion tracking and voice control. The camera helped push the price $100 above Sony’s PlayStation 4, which launched the same month. The pricing expert Rafi Mohammed said Microsoft had priced the Xbox One “too high” and that the $100 premium could “derail” it over the 2013 holiday season.
In June 2014 Microsoft started selling a bundle without the Kinect for $400. Sales of the Xbox One more than doubled compared with the month before.
The Xbox One launch price in today’s money
Inflation means a dollar buys less today than it did in 2013. Using the US Consumer Price Index, the original Xbox One launch price of $499.99 works out at about $722.82 in September 2026 money, around 1.4 times the original figure. That is what the same amount of spending power would cost now, not what the Xbox One sells for second-hand.
When was the Xbox One released?
- Announced: May 21, 2013
- North America, parts of Europe, Australia and South America: November 22, 2013
- Japan, China and the rest of Europe: September 2014
Where was the Xbox One developed?
Microsoft developed the Xbox One at its campus in Redmond, Washington. Its developer kits were codenamed “Durango”, and they were in game makers’ hands by mid-2012.
Xbox One facts you might not know
- Microsoft first planned to make the console check in online and to limit lending and reselling of disc games. After a strong backlash, it dropped those plans on June 19, 2013, before launch.
- It also dropped the rule that the Kinect had to stay plugged in for the console to work.
- The smaller Xbox One S replaced the original in 2016, and the more powerful Xbox One X followed in November 2017.
- Its successors, the Xbox Series X and Series S, launched on November 10, 2020.
Frequently asked questions
How much was the Xbox One when it came out?
The Xbox One cost $499.99 in the United States when it launched on November 22, 2013, with the Kinect sensor included.
How much is $499.99 from 2013 worth today?
Adjusted for US inflation, the Xbox One’s $499.99 launch price is about $722.82 in September 2026 money.
Why was the Xbox One more expensive than the PS4?
Every launch Xbox One included the Kinect camera, which helped make it $100 dearer than the PlayStation 4. A $400 version without the Kinect followed in June 2014.
Want to compare the Xbox One launch price with other launch prices? See what the 1964 Ford Mustang cost, browse more famous launch prices, or play this question in Price Time Machine.
Sources
Launch prices and dates are checked against the sources below. Today’s price is calculated from official US inflation data and updates automatically when new figures are published.
- Press release: Microsoft, “Xbox One Ignites a New Era of Games and Entertainment This November” (10 June 2013)
- Wikipedia: Xbox One
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index (CPI-U)