Microsoft Scorpio price maybe leaks at $500, and that makes sense to me
The price for Microsoft’s Scorpio console has leaked prior to the official reveal, and it’s going to be $500. I’ve heard some gnashing of the teeth about this price point and frankly I’m confused. It’s a completely optional, premium console for only the most tech whorish folks out there (hi!). It isn’t ushering in a new generation, *and* it’s the most powerful console ever. Frankly, I was expecting an even *higher* price. Maybe it’s just me.
Microsoft would score a major win in the console wars by pricing the Xbox Scorpio at $399.99, but there’s little evidence that the company is willing to go that low for the pricing. It would be a wise play, but it’s unlikely to happen.
This is a conversation that’s getting play again, outside of the standard speculation about pricing, because video game industry host and bon vivant Geoff Keighley has already made the rare show of claiming that the price will be $499.99, although he also left himself plenty of wiggle room in case something changed. He later repeated that price in a NeoGaf post.
It’s very likely that Microsoft had a long and complicated argument about what the best price would be, and it’s even possible that this isn’t a settled issue. For all we know Microsoft leaked a price to Keighley as a way to get it out there and is gauging the reaction.
The PlayStation 4 Pro was released at $399.99, and could be getting a price drop at Sony’s press event. That low price has meant that, in the past six months, around one in every five PlayStation consoles sold is a Pro. And Sony is already enjoying a significant lead in hardware sales.
Hell, if I was inside Microsoft and wanted a bit more evidence to get to the $399.99 price this would be an effective way to do that: Get the negative reaction to the $499.99 price out in the open and then point to it as proof Microsoft has to go lower if it hopes to release more than a niche product at a niche price.
That may also be reading way too much into this tweet, but getting the price out via someone with a good reputation in gaming but who doesn’t often leak this sort of thing would give Microsoft some solid data from at least the hardcore audience.