Microsoft might be preparing to launch the Xbox One’s successor

Microsoft just dropped the price of its gaming console. The Xbox One now costs $299 in the U.S. with a 500GB hard drive, or €299 in Europe. For $319, you get a 1TB hard drive. And bundles also get a $50 price cut. Interestingly, this news comes right before E3. Microsoft is set to announce a new, slimmer Xbox One. Rumor has it that it should be 40 percent smaller and come with a 2TB hard drive. (Maybe Microsoft is going to drop the Blu-ray player?) Next year, Microsoft could also announce a more powerful Xbox One. So the slim model is just an intermediary step to keep things fresh ahead of the holiday season later this year. Sony is also set to release a more powerful PlayStation 4 ‘Neo’ later this year. Today’s price drop could be a way to clear up the inventory before making room for the slim Xbox One. Or maybe Microsoft wants to be more aggressive when it comes to pricing as the company is lagging behind Sony when it comes to consoles. Sony recently announced 40 million sales for the PlayStation 4. Microsoft has stopped reporting unit sales, but VGChartz estimates that Microsoft has sold around 21 million Xbox One units so far. Either way, Microsoft is going to tell us more about the new Xbox One at its E3 conference on June 13th.