Microsoft Store discounts signal incoming Xbox One price cut announcement

Microsoft appears primed to announce a permanent price drop for the Xbox One, having already slashed the prices of a few hardware bundles on the company store.

Both the Xbox One Titanfall Bundle and the Xbox One Forza 5 Bundle have received discounts in line with that of Walmart and Best Buy. Normally $499.99, each bundle has been discounted by $50 to just $449.99.

Though Microsoft is labeling it as "limited time savings," the discounts could signal an permanent price cut announcement for the United States. The company already announced a permanent price drop in the UK, while throwing in a free copy of Titanfall. At the time, Microsoft said no price cut was planned outside of the UK, but as you can see that doesn't appear to be holding true.

Dropping the price of the Xbox One so early in its lifecycle may seem odd to some, especially given the console's success — it's selling at a rate of 2.29 faster than Xbox 360 in the United States — but as I pointed out when the UK price cut was announced, this is really nothing new for Microsoft.