Microsoft is axing around $80 for the price of its Xbox One in the massive consumer market of China as an effort to compete with the upcoming launch of the Sony PlayStation 4 in the country next month.
The Kinect-less Xbox One was priced at $600 (3,699 yuan) at its launch in China in September, while the Xbox One bundled with Kinect is priced at $694 (4,299 yuan). The $80 (500 yuan) price decrease announced by the Redmond company this week brought the prices down to $517 (3,199 yuan) for the Kinect-less version and $614 (3,799 yuan) with the Kinect.
The Japanese entertainment and technology firm Sony announced last week that its PlayStation 4 will be launched in China on January 11 with a price tag of $468 (2,899 yuan). The price gap between the two rival companies' PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was brought down to $48 (300 yuan) from $129 (800 yuan).
Additionally, the Xbox One comes with at least two free video game titles in China, while Sony's PlayStation 4 do not have any free video games.
Neverwinter Online and Powerstarf Golf is included free for the Xbox One buyers, while an additional Dance Central Spotlight will be added for Xbox One with Kinect buyers.
Microsoft added that the Xbox One will come with a Chinese interface, local payment methods, translated content, two-year warranty and a free Xbox Live Gold subscription, which will expire on March 2015.
The Xbox One was first launched in China in September, selling about 100,000 units within its first week. Microsoft's video game console was the first to be legally and officially sold in the country since its 2000 ban on video game consoles.
The Chinese government lifted the 13-year ban earlier this year, but with many rules and regulations, which kept some widely popular video games such as Grand Theft Auto V and Call of Duty games to be banned from being sold.