Public Reception & Sales
During 2013’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft sealed their fate for the foreseeable future, pricing the original launched Xbox One at $499. With mandatory internet connectivity required and no usage of used games initially in their plans, many fans (including previous Xbox 360 owners) had been conveyed by Sony to jump ship. While Microsoft would eventually “loosen up” and remove some of their limitations users were dreadful of, the PlayStation 4 would gain an early lead amongst its competitors.
The Xbox One was nearly double behind in sales of its arched-rival, as Microsoft would appoint Phil Spender as the new head of their gaming division. Gamers saw an immediate change in Xbox Live, which no longer required users to have GOLD accounts to use games (should’ve been a day one standard), and a $50 price cut without Kinect. Although we find the voice command device pretty pointless for gaming, it makes our experience on the Xbox One complete, for total control. Black Friday sales saw Microsoft significantly close the gap they’re still suffering from, which has us skeptical whether Sony will implement any price drop for users.