So far it seems like Microsoft’s decision to unbundle Kinect from the Xbox One has been a good one. Microsoft said this week that monthly sales of the Xbox One in the United States more than doubled ever since it decided to start offering the console by itself without the Kinect sensor for $400, or $100 less than what the console cost with Kinect.
“Over the past month, we’ve seen a strong spike in interest in our Xbox One console options, including the new $399 offering, and the amazing lineup of games announced during E3,” Microsoft writes. “Since the new Xbox One offering launched on June 9th, we’ve seen sales of Xbox One more than double in the US, compared to sales in May, and solid growth in Xbox 360 sales.”
Microsoft had earlier hinted that ditching the Kinect requirement had led to a significant sales boost although this is the first time the company has offered any kind of numbers to give us a clue of just how big of a boost it experienced.
The mandatory Kinect requirement, which pushed the Xbox One’s price up to $500, was one key reason why the console feel behind in sales compared to the PlayStation 4, which was priced more competitively at $400. One Sony exec earlier this year admitted that he and his colleagues were “dancing in the aisles” when Microsoft first announced its Xbox One pricing, although Microsoft finally seems to have wised up one year later.
