14 DAY TRIAL // The Xbox One will lose to the PlayStation 4 in Europe at least, largely due to the difference in price and the fact that most of TV and entertainment features embedded into Microsoft's next-gen console won't work across the old continent.
Last week at E3 2013 both Microsoft and Sony revealed their next-gen consoles and pinned accurate prices on them, with the Xbox One starting at 499 USD/EUR, while the PlayStation 4 had a much lower 399 USD/EUR price tag.
While the PS4 had the advantage in terms of used games policy and no online requirement, Microsoft backtracked on its stated policies and confirmed this week that it won't impose any limitations on pre-owned titles and that they can be played offline indefinitely.
IHS Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls believes the decision was required if Microsoft hoped to stand a chance against the PS4.
"We believe price will be the biggest differentiating feature and have slightly adjusted down our Xbox One sales expectation for continental Europe at launch, based on the €100 gap in pricing," he told Edge.
"It was clear Microsoft needed to do something to douse the flames of discontent and the U turn means early adopters can now make a straight purchase decision based on content, price and features between the Xbox One and PS4."
The existing userbase, their loyalty, and the different features offered by the two companies will also play a big role in the next-gen console war, according to the analyst.
"Those consumers already embedded in Xbox Live and PSN are less likely to jump ship which changes the dynamic for this gen’s launch. Beyond these aspects both platforms have differing value propositions. Xbox One’s broadcast overlay offer is skewed towards the US consumer at launch and PS4 has some interesting features using streaming technology."
Considering Europe has always been more favorable to Sony's PlayStation consoles, it's going to be interesting to see just what will happen when the two devices go on sale, probably in November.