Did Microsoft Surreptitiously Drop the Xbox One Price in the UK?

For a while now, there's been debate over further Xbox One hardware price drops in the UK, and it looks like Microsoft are gearing up to present some deals ahead of an official announcement.

At the console's launch, the system was available with Kinect for £429.99. Then, in February 2014, it was trimmed to £399.99. July rolled around of course, and the system was then made available for £349.99 without Kinect, or £399.99 if you wanted the motion-control device. Bundles featuring titles such as Sunset Overdrive were on the cards for £349.99.

Now though, it seems that the prices are falling further, with a number of retailers trimming prices. At the end of a TV advert for Forza Horizon 2 here in the UK, the official console price is being quoted as £329.99, and many retailers are now selling the system for that price, although they're advertising the new price as a promotion, as opposed to an official cut. With Microsoft advertising the system at £329.99 though, we're not sure how long they'll get away with that approach.

But, the most surprising price we've seen is for that aforementioned Sunset Overdrive bundle. Complete with the sexy white Xbox One, some retailers are offering the entire package for £329.99, as opposed to the £349.99 it was touted for just a couple of weeks ago. Amazon UK are currently going slightly lower than that, at a flat £329. The biggest gaming-specific high street retailer GAME though, is still asking £349.99 online. We're relatively sure that they'll be the last to drop the price, given the fact that they usually stick to the RRP apart from during sales.

Of course, a £329 pricepoint makes the Xbox One cheaper than the PlayStation 4's £349.99 asking price in the UK. Whether this will have an affect on sales, we don't know, though we'd bet it would cause some to consider Microsoft's machine where they'd otherwise have ruled it out. Whether Microsoft clarifies the situation in the coming weeks with regard to the official price or not, all we can tell you is that there's good reason to shop around right now if you're looking at picking up an Xbox One.

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