Microsoft is celebrating the success of its Xbox One without Kinect in the US as the sales more than doubled in the month of June.
Microsoft, the biggest software company, was struggling to match the sales of Sony's PlayStation 4 and analysts attributed it to the extra $100 for the Xbox One bundle. The Redmond-based software giant decided to match its rival with a $399 price tag by dropping off the Kinect motion-control device from its bundle in June. Microsoft did not have to wait long before seeing its new business model work as sales picked up impressively the same month.
The company made the official announcement on its Xbox Wire blog on Wednesday. Ditching the motion-control device worked fairly well for Microsoft, as the sales of Xbox One in the United States more than doubled compared to the sales in May. Microsoft did not reveal the number of units it pushed through the month, but seems content with the growth.
"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," the company wrote on its blog. "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."
As for its rival, Sony enjoyed remarkable sales of its flagship PS4 units globally. The company's last updated sales report said more than 7 million units of PS4 were shipped to its consumers, while Microsoft only had 5 million units as of February. Since then, the Xbox One sales figures have been under the wraps. It is not clear if the impressive U.S. sales will prompt the software giant to share the statistics with its fans.
The same price tag for PS4 and Xbox One will give gamers a tough choice between the two next-gen consoles. Both gaming devices have exceptional user-experience with few titles exclusive to their network, which can be the deciding factor for gamers.
Xbox's Major Nelson aka Larry Hub teased some of the upcoming Xbox One features, aimed at improving the Kinect-less experience. The company might be able to attract new customers with its July update as well as new titles that will make their debut on Xbox One this year. Xbox One owners can get their hands on popular titles like Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Assassin's Creed Unity, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Evolve, Grand Theft Auto V, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Ori and the Blind Forest and many more, according to its blog.
