After the Xbox One outsold Sony's PlayStation 4 in July, Microsoft believes that its Xbox consoles can pull it off again this August.
While the price cut is an undeniable factor in Xbox One's victory over the PlayStation 4 in the NPD Group's sales figures report for July, Aaron Greenberg of Xbox games explains that it can also be attributed to Xbox's momentum coming out of E3 2016, which was held in June. Greenberg is optimistic for the August figures.
"It was a huge show for us. We announced a lot. Two new consoles. We showcased a huge games lineup, a lot of Xbox Live innovation," says Xbox games' marketing chief. "In August — I think we're going to sell a lot of consoles."
Note that aside from selling more units than the PlayStation, Xbox also saw an 18 percent increase in total gaming hours on Xbox consoles when compared to last year's figures. Microsoft reports a total of 1.55 billion gaming hours spent on its consoles as of July 2016.
Greenberg also says that the company is pleased with how well the Xbox One S, which was released earlier this month, is performing. He notes that the new console release has exceeded expectations.
"We're trying to make as many as we can, as fast as we can," Greenberg comments on the demand for the Xbox One S.
The Xbox One S' 2 TB launch edition, which retails for $399, was reported to be nearly sold out in both in the UK and the United States just a week after its release. Bear in mind that Microsoft will not be restocking shelves because of the console's limited quantity.
Novelty items such as the Xbox OneSie, a loungewear attire that looks like a comfortable-to-wear deflated astronaut spacesuit, was released to celebrate the launch of the Xbox One S. The Xbox Onesie is a product of Xbox Australia's collaboration with its community of fans.
Both 500 GB and 1 TB versions of the Xbox One S were released earlier this week, on Aug. 23. The Xbox One S 500 GB retails for $299 while the 1 TB version sits at $349. Both come bundled with some popular game titles such as Madden NFL 17, FIFA 2017, Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
While August seems to be in Xbox's favor, many are looking forward to next month's NPD sales figures, especially after Sony sent out invitations for the "PlayStation Meeting" that will happen on Sept. 7. It is expected that the rumored PlayStation 4 Neo will surface during the event.
