Price of Xbox One may be less than 360 say insiders

The Xbox One may cost less than the launch price of the Xbox 360, it is believed.

Robert Lloyd, chief financial officer of games retailer Games Spot, told financial analysts that the new-generation consoles, such as Xbox One and PS4, would have a “lower opening price than they did last cycle”, PCWorld reports.

This would mean the X Box One would be cheaper than most recent estimates suggest, as the 360 originally launched at £209.99 for the core system and £279.99 for the 20GB model.

The PS3’s original launch price was pricier - £425 for the 60GB model – though the later release of the 40GB model brought the price down to £299.

GameStop said they could not announce official pricing but said that their estimates had sprung from their modelling of the games market in 2013-14.

GameStop also predicted the adoption rate for the new consoles would be between 80 and 85 per cent (an optimistic figure compared to a poll taken by Independent readers during the Xbox One launch, where 40 per said they’d definitely upgrade and 38 per cent said they’d wait and see).

However, the price predictions do not consider the additional cost of the Kinect 2.0, a peripheral that seems to be integral for the new system based on comments made by Microsoft executives.

The original launch price for the Kinect was £129.99, a figure that suggests the launch price for the One might be nearer to £399 – the figure still given by electronics retailer Zavvi on their pre-order page for the console.

Un-confirmed reports have also suggested that the Xbox One will have a subsidised model, priced at around the £200 mark when bought with a two year subscription to Xbox Live.

This would allow Microsoft to undercut even Nintendo’s Wii U, and recoup their losses on the hardware with Xbox Live purchases. And as the console has to connect to Live to validate games, Microsoft can be assured that gamers will be spending time online.

Most estimates would benefit from knowing Sony’s price plan, but it’s unlikely that either company will blink before E3 in June. With the last generation of consoles, Sony overestimated demand for the PS3 and its higher price drove many gamers to the 360.

If Microsoft positions its system as a pure gaming machine with a competitive price, it could win some of its customers back.