Microsoft cuts XBox One price in battle with Playstation 4
Microsoft is cutting the price of its Xbox One games console under heavy pressure from its major rival the Sony Playstation 4.
It was billed as a showdown when the two devices were released late last year. Microsoft and Sony were to go head to head for control of the lucrative games console market. Only a few months later, Microsoft has had a rethink after Sony’s console outsold it almost two-to-one.
The Microsoft Xbox One will cost £399.99 from 28 February in the UK, a reduction from the £429 retail price the console originally sold for since its release in November 2013. The price includes the hotly anticipated Titanfall game, but that will not be available until its release on 14 March.
“This is about giving UK gamers the best value that we can. We’ve already seen that Xbox and PlayStation will both be commercially successful devices… We see this as a marathon, not a sprint,” said Harvey Eagle, marketing director at Microsoft Xbox UK.
Seth Barton, editor of Expert Reviews, said the price cut was a “canny move” by the US company. He added: “By knocking £30 off and adding a game into the bundle, Microsoft have destroyed the price differential with Sony, without having to drop their RRP. They can now sit back and wait to see how well it does, and if it does very well, they can add another game into the deal.
“I don’t think it’s in either company’s interest to launch a price war at this point in time.” He said that Microsoft was “obviously on the back foot and the price was hurting them”.
And he added: “The only problem is that it is likely to annoy lots of people who have already bought an Xbox One, and a lot of them did so because they wanted Titanfall. It is the most anticipated game in all existence right now.”
Titanfall, a science fiction first-person shooter game, will be made exclusive to the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. The console and games bundle is currently available to pre-order. The price cut will only apply in Britain, the Xbox One’s second biggest-market after the US, where the device will still cost $499 (£299).
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