14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently, sales of Microsoft's Xbox One home console managed to surpass the numbers of the PlayStation 4 this week in the United Kingdom, an unprecedented occurrence.
The Xbox One enjoyed a massive sales spike due to the fact that its price had been cut to an all-time low by Microsoft, and the fact that FIFA 15, one of the UK's most popular (if not the most popular) video games, just came out.
An anonymous retail source quoted by MCV claimed that Xbox One hardware sales noticed a 155 percent growth week over week, most likely on the back of FIFA 15 and the recent retail promotion from Microsoft, which most likely planned the whole thing and is now reaping the rewards.
The company pulled a similar stunt back in February, when it reduced the price of the device ahead of Titanfall's launch. Respawn Entertainment's first-person shooter proved to be a genuine system seller for Microsoft's Xbox One, and taking a small short-term hit on the price of the hardware is always a good idea when you have a game that has the potential to greatly expand your user base on your hands.
Price drops have been auspicious so far
The company further reduced the price of the unit since then in June, with the removal of the Kinect sensor, and the latest discount, albeit only temporary, is meant to boost the upcoming launches of Sunset Overdrive, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Forza Horizon 2, all of them platform exclusive and highly-anticipated video games.
This practice might be Microsoft's best chance to claw its way back up, after being severely outsold worldwide, with the latest figures from Sony pointing to well over 10 million PlayStation 4 units pushed, as opposed to the Xbox One's five million, as of April, 2014.
In the territory, the PlayStation 4 is still in the lead, with Sony announcing that it had sold over 1 million units in the United Kingdom alone, a surprising feat, since the last time around, the Xbox 360 was the clear victor on the market.
In any case, the UK-only temporary promotion might end up saving the company considerably more money than it's losing on the lower retail tag, and Microsoft has some pretty deep pockets, so it's not going to be a problem.
The PlayStation 4 still has a strong presence
In spite of this promotion, FIFA 15 was reported to have sold up to 100k more units on the PlayStation 4 console than on the Xbox One in the UK, which would translate into a 32 percent share of the week's overall physical sales, compared to the Xbox One's pie of 22 percent.
The Xbox 360 claimed 30 percent of all FIFA 15 retail sales, and the PlayStation 3 only 15 percent, showing the last-generation console's dominance in the UK, and showing that Microsoft is right to push its newest creation more aggressively.
Xbox One figures for the region have not been announced yet, as Microsoft is most likely waiting to boost its numbers through the recent launch in a number of secondary markets and through the Holiday Season, which is typically the most explosive time of the year when it comes to games and hardware sales.