Previously the console alone has been priced at £429.99 and apart from FIFA 14, games normally have to be sold separately. The new pricing will see a discount of £30 and a free game on top compared to the original launch price, which is a pretty good deal.
The console will be priced at £399.99 from Friday onwards, and the special Titanfall bundle will be available also for £399.99 from March 14th when the game is officially released. After the E3 show before the Xbox One’s release, this mech shooter emerged as one of the most anticipated titles and so we’re expecting to see a jump in sales of the console as a result of its launch.
Speaking with IGN, Xbox UK’s Marketing Director Harvey Eagle said: “For us it’s about giving UK gamers the best value we can,” and that the new price point is UK only. Nothing to announce in other countries.”
So folks in the US and in Europe (or further afield) will still have to wait for a price drop, but with Sony recently winning in the console sales war and a spate of UK retailers also unofficially dropping the PS4’s price by £20, the Xbox One’s first price drop coming just before one of the biggest game releases for the console is very well timed.
The Xbox One is still £50 more expensive than the PS4 in the UK even with the price drop accounted for, but with slightly better entertainment functionality and the inclusion of the controversial Kinect 2.0 camera, the prices are considered as evened out.
On the note of entertainment features, in the UK we are currently missing out on some of the bigger features that our American cousins can currently use on the console, like the new WWE Network app, Interactive NFL and more streaming services. However, Eagle was keen to state that a partnership with the BBC for its iPlayer app is still at the forefront by saying: “We don’t have anything to announce concrete today on that apart from reassure that we’re working hard to try and bring BBC and other great app partners to the platform as soon as we can.”
Either way it’s great news for gamers who have been holding off on the Xbox One for a cheaper price or just for Titanfall, as either way they will be getting a great deal.