Since the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One, it seems that it has never held steady at a given price for long. In its efforts to undercut Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft has aggressively cut the price of its console whenever it needed a boost in sales.
When the Xbox One launched in November 2013, it solid for $500 in the U.S. and £430 in the U.K. Over time, cost cutting measures like dropping the Kinect as a bundled accessory allowed the price to be lowered, and since September of last year, the Xbox One has sold for £330 in the U.K.
As part of its latest marketing efforts, Microsoft has now cut the price of the Xbox One to £300. This cut comes at the request of retailers, Microsoft told MCV, and the reduction is U.K. only. Whether or not the cut is permanent isn’t yet clear.
“This is a UK-only retail promotion and offers great value for fans looking to buy an Xbox One ahead of the launch of 2015’s highly-anticipated games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Batman: Arkham Knight, along with Xbox exclusives such as Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6 and Halo 5: Guardians,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
While the wording may make it seem that this is a temporary drop, most of the Xbox One price cuts in both the U.S. and U.K. have been introduced as temporary measures, only to be made permanent later. “The best games. The best exclusives. The best time to buy an Xbox One. Now starting at £299.99,” reads a tweet from the Xbox UK account, which doesn’t make it seem like this is something temporary.
This pricing brings the U.K. Xbox One closer to the current U.S. pricing of $350, so even if the drop isn’t permanent this time, we suspect it won’t be long before it is.
