It seems like Microsoft’s decision to drop motion-control device Kinect from its Xbox One bundle has borne fruits likely beefing up revenues.
The software giant on Wednesday announced that Xbox One sales for the month of June has “more than doubled,” but stopped short of revealing the exact number of units sold.
Microsoft launched the original Xbox One console package with the Kinect motion-control device, last November for a price of $499. Rival Sony’s PlayStation 4 also arrived in the same month but with a cheaper price tag of $399 with its own camera peripheral selling separately. It was Sony’s PS4 which led the gaming market selling more than 7 million console units as compared to Xbox One’s 5 million units.
Microsoft had earlier reported sluggish April Xbox One sales with just 115,000 consoles sold in the month. The drastic change in sale numbers in the month of June can be attributed to the launch of a cheaper Xbox One package available without a Kinect sensor. It was in May that the Redmond first announced the $399 Kinect-free bundle which finally hit the market shelves on June 9. The $100 price decline is the major reason behind boost in sales, Microsoft claimed.
The software giant also announced upcoming Xbox releases which include Madden NFL 15, to arrive this August with other popular titles such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2 to follow.
