OCT. 8, 2015 • Three weeks after Sony Computer Entertainment reduced the MSRP of the 500GB PlayStation 4 inside Japan, the console will go from $399 to $349 in the United States. In Canada, the new MSRP is $429, down from $449. Sony’s move returns the PlayStation 4 price to parity with the Xbox One, which has sold at $349 since last June. The new PlayStation 4 pricing corresponds with the October 9 release of Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection. The Uncharted/PS4 bundle, plus the standard Star Wars Battlefront PS4 Bundle arriving on November 17, are now both priced at $349. The Limited Edition Call of Duty: Black Ops III 1TB PS4 Bundle, releasing on November 6, will go from $449 to $429. No similar price reduction announcement was made for the European market.

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Impact: We have been expecting the 500GB PlayStation 4 to get a price cut to $349 since confirmation of a 1TB model last June. The pricing dynamics in Japan are much different than they are in North America. Here, the PS4 has been a consistent leader in sales and SCEA has not faced market pressure to reduce the MSRP despite the $50 advantaged ceded to the Xbox One the last four months. But the fall is a different matter. With the delay of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to next spring, Sony does not possess an exclusive with the weight to compete with Halo 5: Guardians. In fact, all of Sony’s big hitters from this year’s E3 – The Last Guardian, Horizon Zero Dawn and Ratchet & Clank –are 2016 releases. For the rest of this year, Sony is relying on exclusive content for multi-platform titles, which isn’t as big a consumer inducement to buy. Faced with Microsoft Corp.’s penchant for releasing a slew of bundles tied to back door discounts during the holidays, SCEA had little choice but to realign PS4 pricing. It is one thing to pitch the PlayStation 4 around great games coming next year, but Halo 5 is arriving late this month and we fully expect Xbox One sales to get a significant boost through the end of December.