As Microsoft is gearing up for its X release in November for the year-end festive season, Sony is pushing its Play Station 4 (PS4) sales with considerable price cut for its PS4 Pro variant and bringing out Destiny 2 limited edition.
With no new exclusive games on the platter, Sony is still banking on its Gran Turismo Sport and Destiny 2 version this season to take on the Xbox One X's release with Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Forza Motorsport 7, besides the recently debuted "Fluent Design System" in tune with the company's universal design language.
Sony is hoping that its PS4 may hold the ground for the holiday season, according to industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, who has ruled out the possibility of any competition from the Xbox One X.
"Xbox One S is priced the same as the PS4, and I don't think they are competitive at all with the Xbox One X, currently priced at $100 more than the PS4 Pro, and highly likely to be priced $150 more than the PS4 Pro by Holiday," he said.
To offset Microsoft's release of Xbox One X at a slightly higher price, the key strategy of Sony would remain one of price cuts than offering new games, said Pachter. He predicted that the PS4 price would dovetail to $249 and PS4 Pro price to $349 for the Holiday season. "My guess is, Sony will cut the everyday PS4 price to $249, and the PS4 Pro price to $349 this Holiday, and Microsoft will be too expensive, so Sony will keep its price advantage this Holiday," he noted. However, he did not bring in the Destiny 2 factor in his analysis.
The Xbox One X price in UK market has been set at £449 ($587) and all eyes are on the Gamescom event scheduled for August 22, where the tech giant may display its upgraded Xbox One X with 27 games for both the console and its Windows 10 PCs.
When Gamescom officially opens at the Koelnmesse on August 22, Microsoft said the gamers in Germany will be able to get hands on Xbox One X for the first time. "We're back in Hall 8 of the Koelnmesse, North entrance, this year and you won't want to miss the opportunity to play a wide collection of the games coming to Xbox over the next 12 months," said Microsoft in a statement.
The Xbox One X games list now includes Star Wars Battlefront 2 and it remains to be seen whether this will lead the sales pitch against Sony's possible PS4 price cut in November.
