According to the world's largest video-game retailer GameStop, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will be less expensive at launch than their predecessors Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively.
Speaking in a post-earnings financial call, GameStop chief financial officer Rob Lloyd said both Microsoft and Sony will debut their next-gen consoles at a lower price point than their current-gen gaming consoles. Although the retailer has not received the official pricing information from the console makers, Lloyd says the company expects a "lower opening price point than they did last cycle," Gamespot reports.
The Xbox 360 was launched in 2005 for $300/$400 and PlayStation 3 hit the stores in 2006 with a $500/600 price tag. While Sony launching its next-gen console for a price less than $500 after almost eight years since the launch of Xbox 360 makes sense, it would really be surprising it Microsoft would price Xbox One anything less than $300.
"GameStop said it expects to be a leading retailer for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The company explained that because of the trade credits it can offer consumers through its buy-sell-trade model, gamers will be able to pick up next-gen systems at GameStop for less than anywhere else," the report said.
GameStop's president Tony Bartel says the company is seeing a great deal of interest from gamers looking for more information about both the upcoming consoles. "Even this far out, there is already strong consumer demand for these consoles," Bartel says during the earnings call. "There is a lot of enthusiasm building for the new consoles, and we currently have more than 1.2 million PowerUp Rewards customers who have signed up for the PS4 first-to-know list, and nearly 250,000 PowerUp Rewards members have already signed up for the Xbox One first-to-know list since the reveal event. We expect to add many more to these lists in the coming weeks as additional information is unveiled," he says in Expert Reviews.
