Microsoft released the Xbox Series S/X in late 2020 alongside the PS5, and this is the first time I have skipped out on a day one purchase for a system in a long time. I even did the whole freeze my butt off thing while waiting outside of Walmart for a Nintendo Wii back in the day. It was -12 degrees outside. Never again – well maybe never again. The point is it has been 3+ years since launch. Yes, these consoles saw some sweet sales over Christmas, but aren’t we due for a permanent Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 price drop? I’m calling it – this will happen before June.
Why do I think we’ll get an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 price drop in 2024? History is on our side my friends. When the Xbox One first permanently dropped its price, it was Christmas of 2014. I remember it well because I bought a second one. Then I kicked myself for not waiting just a bit longer to get a better deal when I saw the price drop even more permanently later that March.
More evidence? Literally, as I’m writing this review, Microsoft began announcing how much of a technological advancement the next console will have. About ten minutes ago, the Series S just dropped to $220 at Target. Weird, but totally confirms the suspicion that we are long overdue for a significant drop. To what degree is tough to say, but I’d wager it will permanently drop to $399. For those lucky enough to take advantage over Christmas, the Series X had dropped to $349 in some cases.
This week, Sony also announced that the PS5 is entering the “latter stages of its life cycle”. I take this as another sign to snag these consoles this year if you haven’t already. The only justification for not picking one up as a gamer myself is the fact that I can own any Xbox game right on my trusty PC. For PC gamers, a PS5 often sounds more entertaining because of the exclusives that sometimes don’t make it to PC at all. I’m not sure I want to wait another year to play Spider Man 2. Sigh. I also like to continue to invest in my PC so dropping $500 on a system entering its “latter stages” doesn’t sound appealing. Again, Sony’s announcement simply points to an inevitable drop in price methinks.
Need more evidence still? Okay, fine – one more thing – in a recent interview with The Verge, Phil Spencer addressed rumors about additional hardware from Microsoft possibly coming out as soon as this Holiday. No, it won’t be a new Xbox and sure, nothing was confirmed, but it’s just another sign we’re due for an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 price drop.
Will all of the console news coming out recently, does this mean Microsoft and Sony will begin to phase out its support of the Xbox One and PS4? If so, it may be time to move on anyways. For games like Fortnite, Apex, and others able to play on both current and last gen systems, sometimes it can be hard to justify the upgrade. The Xbox One still holds up just fine if you can handle the slower load times, and funny enough, my kids don’t even seem to care about the graphics. Let’s be honest though, we’re not comparing and N64 to a SNES anymore. Graphics aren’t improving at the rate they once were. That being said, the details and framerates certainly are. Smoother gameplay and fast loading times (along with detailed graphical enhancement) have been all the rage as of late.
So, I eagerly await the news for the drop. Like I said, it’s feeling pretty inevitable. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
