Microsoft starts to sell Xbox One without Kinect

Microsoft Corp. on Monday started to sell its Xbox One video game console without the Kinect motion sensor. The new version of the Xbox One bundle is designed to lower the price of the console and make it more popular among gamers than it is today. However, the new price may not truly boost sales of the system.

The Xbox One without the Kinect device costs $399 in the U.S., which is $100 lower compared to the price of the console with the sensor. As a result of the price-drop, the Xbox One now costs the same amount of money as the arch-rival Sony PlayStation 4 in the U.S. The console without the Kinect costs £349 in the U.K., which is only £30 lower than the price of the Xbox One console with the motion sensor. The new XB1 price matches the price-point of the PS4 in the country. In Eurozone the Xbox One without Kinect costs €399, which is €50 lower compared to the price with the sensor included. The PS4 costs €399 in Europe.

While Microsoft managed to match the price of the PlayStation 4 in all major regions, it is obvious that the U.S. got the highest “price-cut” and the Xbox One is still more expensive in the U.K. and Eurozone than it is in the U.S. Keeping in mind that the console is still not really affordable, Microsoft will unlikely considerably increase sales of the XB1 in the aforementioned regions.

Since many gamers know that the Xbox One has lower-performance graphics core compared to the PlayStation 4, Microsoft may need to further cut the price of its latest consoles and ensure availability of good-looking games for the platform to truly attract a lot of new customers.

Microsoft recently promised that changes in the software development kit and dropping mandatory Kinect support will allow it to boost performance of graphics processing available to games by around 10 per cent.

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KitGuru Says: It remains to be seen how the new price affects popularity of the Xbox One. Share your thoughts with KitGuru. Will you buy the Xbox One now that it is more affordable?

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