Microsoft has announced that the Xbox One was the best-selling console of July in the United States. This comes despite the well-publicized launch of the Xbox One's successor, the Xbox One S, which arrived on August 4.
"We're honored that Xbox One was the best-selling console in the U.S. in July," Xbox global marketing head Mike Nichols said to VentureBeat. Nichols also indicated that global gaming hours on the Xbox One had gone up 18 percent over last year, soaring to 1.55 billion hours. The exact numbers were revealed by NPD.
Microsoft said that this sales boost was the result of its strong showing at E3 2016 last June, as well as the Xbox One S launch. On top of that, a brand-new Xbox One only costs $250, thanks to a price cut that occurred towards the end of July. This compares to the cheapest configuration of the Xbox One S, which will sell for $299, as well as the PlayStation 4, which rarely sells for less than $350.
The last time that the Xbox One reached the top of the U.S. console sales charts was in October 2015, in which it sold twice as many units as it did compared to October 2014, despite the PlayStation 4 price cut that occurred that month. This boost in sales was attributed to a substantial lineup of tentpole games, including "Halo 5: Guardians." Historically, the PlayStation 4 has outsold the Xbox One in the country.
The Xbox One S launched with a 2TB configuration at $400. August 23 will see the launch of two cheaper configurations with a smaller hard drive capacity - a 1TB version that will cost $349, and a 500GB version that will cost $299. This newer, slimmer version of the Xbox One comes with support for 4K video output, HDR content, a redesigned controller, and an internal power brick, among other enhancements.
