Great news for those gamers who are considering purchasing the Xbox One - Microsoft has announced that, from Friday 28th February, the price will be cut by £30 to £399.99. Also the hotly anticipated Titanfall game is going to be bundled in with the console at this lower price. The reduction is currently exclusive to the UK and stores are free to apply further discounts if they wish.
The Titanfall bundle is available for pre-ordering from today, for a limited time worldwide, and will offer a download code for sci-fi shooter Titanfall for free. We hear that while the bundle is a worldwide offer the price cut is not. Buyers will get a code to activate Titanfall once the game is released on 14th March. The bundle will come with special packaging and includes a free month access to Xbox Live Gold, a wireless controller, Kinect sensor and a standard Xbox One Chat Headset. The special Titanfall limited edition controller doesn't seem to be part of the deal unfortunately.
Titanfall is one of the year's most anticipated games and will only be available on the Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. Its publisher EA signed an exclusivity deal with Microsoft last year and previously provided FIFA 14 for free with the launch of Xbox One.
"The reaction from gamers and members of the media who’ve been lucky enough to see the game has been almost universally positive,"said Harvey Eagle, marketing director at Xbox UK. "It’s one of those special games that don’t come around very often that we call system sellers – people will buy a console in order to experience them. It’s an amazing opportunity for us."
The price cut news does not come as a surprise as recent reports of main competitor Sony's PS4's latest sales figures show that the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One by a considerable amount. Even with the price drop, the PS4 is still £50 cheaper at £349.99 though Sony chooses not to bundle its camera motion accessory which sells it separately.
"We're in 13 markets around the world at the moment, Sony is in 49 markets. This has been the most successful Xbox launch ever, and we’ve already seen that both consoles are commercially successful, which is great for the industry," commented Eagle on the sales question. "What I will say is, we're only a few months in and this is a generation that’s going to go on for many, many years. We're in it for the long haul."
We can expect see more offers coming from both firms in the near future as the focus of the competition now turns to the games offered. Exclusive titles will become a key part of driving sales of the console. Meanwhile the Xbox One price reduction, to £399 in the UK, will become a permanent price, even if the Titanfall bundle is a "while stocks last" affair.
