14 DAY TRIAL // Harvey Eagle, the marketing director in charge of the Xbox One at the United Kingdom Microsoft division, says that the permanent price cut for the device that’s set to go into effect on February 28 is designed to make the platform more attractive to players.
He tells TotalXbox that, “We feel the time is right now to do this because Titanfall is coming out. It's the game that most gamers are looking forward to playing, and we think that this is a great time to offer this new price point moving forwards, and include the game while stocks last.”
Gamers in the United Kingdom will be able to buy an Xbox One for 399.99 British pounds and the entire move might be a test and then a similar cut could be offered in other markets later in the year.
Microsoft wants gamers to pick one of its home consoles now in order to be prepared for the coming releases that the company is preparing.
Eagle adds, “I'm excited about what's round the corner; obviously we've got Titanfall on the immediate horizon, we've got games like Project Spark coming out, we've got Sunset Overdrive coming later in the year, Destiny and Watch Dogs I already mentioned. I think there's a ton of stuff coming and a great reason for people to be excited about the future.”
Since the next generation of home consoles was launched, a number of industry watchers have said that the PlayStation 4 has generated more sales than the Xbox One because of its lower price.
It will be interesting to see how the price cut interacts with the March 13 launch of Titanfall in order to boost overall sales of the Microsoft home console.
Rumors also suggest that the company might be getting ready to launch a Kinect-less version later in 2014.
Since the two next-gen consoles were officially announced and priced, fans have said that they are more attracted by the Sony device because of its lower price point.
Microsoft has tried to counter this by showing off the extensive media capabilities of the Xbox One, but so far, it has failed to deliver the promised internally created TV series, including the Steven Spielberg one based on Halo.
A worldwide price cut for the Microsoft home console might create a new market reality and bring sales for both next-gen platforms to similar levels by the end of this year.