By Kyle Orland
Rather than letting retailers set piecemeal price drops for its game and console bundles this holiday shopping season, Microsoft is implementing an across the board, $50 price cut for the Xbox One at all online and brick-and-mortar US retailers from Thanksgiving (November 26th) through Cyber Monday (November 30th).
That means players will be able to pay just $299 to get an entry-level, 500 GB Xbox One with either Gears of War: Ultimate Edition or The Lego Movie Videogame. That's the lowest official price Microsoft has ever offered for the system, and it beats the $330 many retailers offered for Xbox One bundles during last year's Black Friday.
On this Black Friday weekend, gamers will also be able to save $50 on the usual price for the following console bundles:
Sale price: $349 (Standard price: $399)
- Xbox One 1TB Holiday Bundle
- Xbox One “Rise of the Tomb Raider” Bundle
- Xbox One with Kinect Bundle
- Xbox One “Fallout 4” Bundle
- Xbox One Limited Edition “Forza Motorsport 6” Console (Nearly sold out)
- Xbox One “Madden NFL 16” Bundle (Nearly sold out)
- Xbox One “FIFA 16” 1TB Bundle (Nearly sold out)
Sale price: $449 (Standard price: $499)
- Xbox One Limited Edition “Halo 5: Guardians” Bundle
- Xbox One Elite Bundle
This across the board price cut doesn't preclude specific retailers from having better deals during the weekend. Microsoft says some such deals should be announced as the traditional start of the holiday shopping season gets closer.
Just two years ago, the Xbox One launched at $500 without a game (but with a Kinect camera). Microsoft recently lowered the price of the Kinect-bundled system with three games to $400.