After software giant Microsoft announced a change of heart regarding its DRM policies for the new Xbox One, the only issue that was left for the company to deal with was the price. As it has been widely-reported, the Microsoft’s upcoming console will come with a $499 price tag, which is $100 more that the Sony’s PlayStation 4. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, American computer and video company, talks about this issue in more detail.
He points out that it is up to Microsoft to win the argument in terms of value. While talking about whether the company was worried about the price of Xbox One, Hirshberg stated, “If you do a focus group of a gazillion people and you show them two prices for two competitive products, 100 percent always prefer the lower price.”
He went on to say that from a first impression point of view, Sony wins, at least when it comes to pricing. In this case, Microsoft will have to make a huge effort in order to convince people that its higher price is worth it and that it provides significant capabilities that will be of importance to customers.
Microsoft’s higher price tag can be justified due to the inclusion of Kinect. However, is this important to Activision or makes any difference in the long run? Hirshberg comments that the company still needs to show why Kinect is a good thing and how will gamers benefit from it in the future. He states that the battle between Microsoft and Sony will be a fun one to watch.
Now we just need to wait until November and the holiday season 2013 in order to see it.
