PlayStation 4: Sony Cuts Prices And Adds ‘Twitch’ App Before Holiday Shopping Season


Sony is stepping up their console game just before the Christmas shopping season begins by cutting prices on PlayStation 4 units worldwide.

Despite being the global leader in gaming console sales, Sony wants the PlayStation 4 to remain as competitive as ever through the end of 2015, the busiest shopping season of the year. As reported by IGN, the PlayStation 4 was once again highest selling console of the month for September, 2015. The last time that Xbox One consoles outsold the PlayStation 4 was in April. The PlayStation 4 has been on top ever since. As of July, Sony had sold over 25 million PlayStation 4 units — Microsoft had only sold 15 million Xbox One units. Microsoft expects to sell another 16.5 million PlayStation 4 units in 2016.

But Sony isn’t satisfied with their PlayStation 4 consoles sales just yet. As gamers begin to leave hints for their desired Christmas gifts, Sony has already made the PlayStation 4 consoles more appealing to those footing the bill. As noted by the Mirror, in early October, Sony dropped the price of the most commonly sold version of the PS4 console (the one with a 500 GB hard drive) to just $349.99 in the United States. PlayStation 4 prices dropped all over the world. As of yesterday, you can pick up a PlayStation 4 for less than four hundred euros in most European countries (less than three hundred pounds in England). Similar savings were seen in PS4 price reductions in Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.

But even before the price reduction, the PlayStation 4 was way ahead of the competition in sales numbers. Sony credits a large part of the PS4’s success to the fact that many people prefer the gameplay of PlayStation 4 over Xbox One for top-selling games like FIFA 16, Madden NFL 16, Metal Gear Solid V, and NBA 2K16. While these games have also been released on the PlayStation 3, the PS4 versions generally have very popular and heavily promoted features that aren’t available on the PS3. A few months of playing your friend’s PlayStation 4 version of your favorite EA Sports title may be enough to persuade you to upgrade for the holidays.

Some big upcoming releases aren’t even available if you don’t upgrade to a PlayStation 4. The newest Need For Speed, Fallout 4, Star Wars: Battlefront, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege will all be available on the PS4, but not the PS3. And it’s hard to settle for the second-best version of popular games like Call of Duty, even when they are available on the PlayStation 3.

And the consoles wouldn’t be selling so well if those who owned them didn’t have a good experience. Sony has shown that it listens to PlayStation 4 owners. Last September, Sony and Twitch assured gamers that a Twitch app would be developed for the PlayStation formats. Twitch is a service that allows users to stream videos created by one of the 1.7 million broadcasters. Think of it as YouTube made exclusively for video games. When a Twitch app was made available earlier this year for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 owners were none too happy. Now that the app is available for PlayStation 4, owners can stream the content directly on their console, rather than watching on another device.

Several different bundles and packages are currently available for those purchasing a new PlayStation 4. At a major retailer like Best Buy, the PS4 can go as cheap as $349.99. The most expensive PS4 option is the Black Ops III Limited Edition Bundle (which includes a one terabyte hard drive), which goes for $429.99. Amazon has an Arkham Knight PlayStation 4 bundle that sells for $494.99.

For official Sony updates related to PlayStation 4 as Christmas approaches, check the official PlayStation website.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images]

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