14 DAY TRIAL // Video game retail chain GameStop is announcing that it is offering 125 dollars (115 Euro) in credit towards the purchase of the Xbox One home console to all those who are ready to trade in their older Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
The offer currently has no expiration date, but those who are interested should try to take advantage of it as quickly as possible.
It seems that only North American gamers can use the new promotion at the moment.
The price of the Xbox One is brought down even more for those who own a last-gen device, which will be good news for Microsoft in the long-term.
The company has been trying since the middle of 2014 to find a solution to close the big sales gap that the PlayStation 4 has managed to open worldwide.
A big price cut was implemented over the Christmas period and was brought back when 2015 started, but its impact was only felt for a limited time, so Microsoft needs to find a better way to make the Xbox One more attractive.
A trade-in program will encourage those who own an Xbox 360 to get rid of their older device and move on to the new generation, but it's unlikely that those who have a PlayStation 3 will use the new offer.
Sony and Microsoft might have a long-term problem
When it comes to sales, both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 have been doing better than their older cousins since they were launched in 2013.
At the same time, numbers from the NPD Group tend to show that the sales of video games have been slowing down and that the major decrease linked to the older platforms has not been matched by the increase in modern ones.
This might be a problem if the trend continues for another year or more and might be another reason to promote the Xbox One in new ways.
GameStop makes its money from video game sales and products associated with them, and they would also want to see sales go up during 2015.
The only question is whether Sony will be interested in adopting such a move and whether we will soon see a big credit attached to an offer for the PlayStation 4.