Its official: Xbox 360 price cut announced

The speculation can finally come an end. From tomorrow the Xbox 360 Elite 120GB will cost 199.99 in the UK – that’s a drop of 30 from the current RRP.

And as expected, the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade has increased by the same amount to 159.99, though Microsoft has not yet clarified whether the machine will come with any additional extras.

The Xbox 360 Pro SKU is to be phased out. In North America, the Pro is to be discounted by $50 to $250 for as long as stocks last.

Both price changes come into force from tomorrow (Friday August 28th) – a move that will see the reduced price Elite given a bank holiday weekend head-start ahead of the launch of PS3 Slim next Tuesday.

In North America the Elite has dropped to $299 whilst the Arcade price has remained static.

With the Christmas season right around the corner, it’s already time to start looking for entertainment and gifts that everyone will enjoy,” Microsoft Europe’s Chris Lewis vice president Interactive Entertainment Business.

We have a goal over the next 18 months to reinvent entertainment in the living room and we want to ensure that we have the right foundations in place for our consumers to make simple informed choices around their entertainment platform.

We know that price is a critical influencing factor in consumer choice, but we also know that consumers across Europe are looking for value, benefit and entertainment experiences, so we need to address all these points to continue to grow and be successful in Europe.”