The Japanese firm announced at the E3 trade show that its machine would be sold for £349 in the UK, $399 in the US and 399 euros across Europe.
It added that it would not impose restrictions on second-hand games. Sony also unveiled what its box would look like, having previously kept the design under wraps at its February PS4 press conference.
For many in the audience at the Los Angeles event, the scale of the price difference came as the biggest shock. Earlier in the day Microsoft had revealed its new console would cost £429 in the UK, $499 in the US and 499 euros.
"Clearly the big headline is that the PlayStation is going to be $100 less than the Xbox One when they come out in the US," Stephen Totilo, editor-in-chief of the gaming news site Kotaku, told the BBC. "Microsoft is going to need to look again at its price or explain why it offers better value, such as the inclusion of its Kinect sensor.
"Of course, in the short-term it may not matter too much because when new consoles launch, supply is typically limited and hardcore gamers will pay anything to snatch them up. But six months or a year later on it will make a difference and Microsoft may feel at that point that it needs to match price with Sony."
Sony also sought to distinguish its games machine by announcing it would not introduce any new restrictions on pre-owned disc-based games bought from friends or retailers, nor would it require users to regularly authenticate their machines via the internet to allow games to continue being played. By contrast, Microsoft has introduced limitations on who consumers can buy second-hand titles from and has introduced a requirement to connect to the net once every 24-hours to play games on the Xbox One.
Source: BBC News
