Xbox One Without Kinect: GameStop Seeing High Demand; Will Price Cut Increase Sales?

Gaming retailer GameStop is already benefitting from the Kinect-less Xbox One price drop announced last week. Though Microsoft’s console hit shelves last November for $499, the Redmond, Washington-based multimedia brand will launch the device without the Kinect for $100 less than its original price this summer.

During a post-earnings financial call for the popular video game chain, GameStop president Tony Bartel announced that the Grapevine, Texas-based retailer is already seeing a strong demand for the Kinect-less Xbox One.

"I definitely think we're already seeing in our stores with our reservation program as well as dialogue with PowerUp Rewards [members that] there's a stronger demand as a result of the price drop," Bartel claimed. "The good news for us is ... we'll sell a lot more units."

"And that means there will be more Xbox One units out there to put software on," Bartel added.

The $100 price reduction will put the Xbox One at the same price as Sony’s PlayStation 4, which launched last Nov. 15, one week prior to the launch of the Xbox One. Sony has called the PS4 launch its most successful launch, with 7 million units sold as of last month.

This is good news for Microsoft, as well as GameStop. Last month, the brand announced it would shutter 120-130 stores worldwide. The gaming retailer’s plan is to shut down a number of its 6,457 global locations and enter a new era where it will focus more on mobile gaming and open hundreds of Apple-related and mobile retail stores, Spring Mobile and Simply Mac.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) plans to eliminate the locations by the end of its fiscal year, which is May 31. Though 120 to 130 stores make up only about 2 percent of the total, CEO Paul Raines is calling the renovation “GameStop 3.0,” a “new phase of the company’s lifespan that will see it aggressively expand its footprint into gaming-adjacent tech fields.”

Microsoft announced last week that it would offer the Xbox One without the motion sensor device for $399 on June 9.

"Your feedback matters to us and it shapes the products and services we build," Xbox head Phil Spencer said when he announced the price cut.