Xbox Chief Phil Spencer Buckles Up For Impending PlayStation 4 Price Drop

The PlayStation 4 just received a price cut in Japan earlier this week. Sony reduced the price to 34,980 yen, which converts to roughly $292. Once word of the price cut hit the airwaves, everyone began wondering when Sony’s generosity would would extended to U.S. customers — after all, the PS4 has soldiered on for nearly two years at the same $399 price point here in the states.

However, we have to consider that Sony really never had a reason to cut prices. Even though the PS4 is still currently priced $50 more than Microsoft’s Xbox One, it’s still by far the best-selling current generation gaming console on the market.

With that being said, Microsoft executives are well aware that Sony will slash prices in the U.S. — it’s just a matter of when. "I fully expect they [PlayStation] will drop price,” said Xbox Chief Phil Spencer in an interview with IGN. “When I think about the playbook they've used in the past, we feel good about the plans we have in place going forward in the holiday. If history tells, then we'll see a price drop from them coming."

Seemingly unfazed by the prospect of a PS4 price cut, Spencer went on to add, “It's great for gamers when price competition happens. We saw that last holiday, and we saw crazy sales numbers on all of the consoles.”

We have the feeling that Microsoft should be very scared of a PS4 price cut. The Xbox One is priced at $349 and Microsoft regularly offers promotions which lets the price effectively dip down to $300 or below. And even with that bargain basement pricing, the PS4 has still been kicking butt and taking names in the console sales race. When (not if) Sony drops the price of the PS4 in the U.S., it may be a bloodbath.

But Microsoft is countering that the closing months of 2015 will see its “Greatest Holiday Games Lineup in Xbox History,” which includes platform exclusives like Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. Whether those titles will be enough to fend off a cheaper PS4 remains to be seen.