PS4 Vs. Xbox One: Microsoft May Drop Xbox One Price, But Polls Say Most Gamers Would Still Stick With Playstation 4

Colin Sebastian, an analyst at financial firm Robert W. Baird & Co., claims that Microsoft is working diligently to lower the price of the Xbox One. Sebastian stated that Microsoft is "working with channel partners to lessen the gap" according to GamesIndustry International.

What could this mean for Xbox One? A $50 price decrease? $100? Will Microsoft match the price of the PS4 at $399? A steep price reduction from $499 to $399 seems unlikely; a $50 price decrease from $499 to $449 would be more plausible. However, the bigger question is whether changing the price of the Xbox One would matter to consumers at this point. We asked that question ourselves from two different angles in the form of polls.

In conjunction with Polar, a polling company, we asked the public whether they would switch from the PS4 to the Xbox One if the PS4 cost $500. At the time, nearly 80 percent indicated that they would still buy the PS4 on day one. The vote broke down originally broke down like this: 792 tallies for the PS4 versus 197 for the Xbox One. Now, that gap has increased in the PS4's favor. The numbers stand at 1,798 for the PS4 and 395 for the Xbox One as of this writing. Check out the photo below.

We also asked the public whether they would switch to the Xbox One if it cost $400. When we first covered the poll, there was a roughly 80-20 split in favor of the PS4: 1,139 votes to 285. Since then, the Xbox One has bridged the gap, but gamers still would overwhelmingly opt for the PS4. As of this writing, the same poll indicates that 3,813 of you would stick with the PS4 if the Xbox One cost $400, while 1,940 would grab an Xbox One in favor of the PS4. That's still a roughly 2-1 ratio in favor of Sony's opus. Take a look at the photo below.

So according to the above two polls, an overwhelming majority of people would still buy the PS4 over the Xbox One even if they both cost the same, whether the pricetag was $400 or $500 for each next-gen console. That's pretty telling, and we wonder whether Microsoft's alleged efforts to decrease the Xbox One's $499 price would have any effect on a public that seems to favor the PS4 in overwhelming numbers.

Do you think that Microsoft will lower the price of the Xbox One? Should they? Why or why not? What should they lower the price to or why? Would you switch to the Xbox One if they lowered the price to the PS4 price of $399? Why or why not? Do you think the above polls accurately reflect public opinion? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments below.