500 GB Xbox One gets another price drop as Microsoft readies for slim consoles

Microsoft has dropped the price of its 500 GB Xbox One again, to $279, barely two weeks after a $50 price cut took it below $300.

The price is good for bundles involving this model (except the three-game Spring Bundle) as well.

This cut is called a promotional price, lasting to Oct. 1. That's about two months after the Xbox One S launches. Revealed yesterday at Microsoft's E3 keynote, the new slimline configuration starts at $299 for a 500GB model. It also packs in a 4K Blu-ray player and a Bluetooth controller, which the current full-size Xbox One model does not have. There are two other configurations with larger hard drives that will cost more.

Plainly, this discount is meant to drain any remaining stock of the original Xbox One chassis, making the Xbox One S the base design going forward. Microsoft yesterday also confirmed plans for a much more powerful Xbox One, codenamed Project Scorpio, which is set to launch in the fall of 2017.