It can't be said enough that now would be the best time to purchase a new Xbox One. After releasing the New Xbox One Experience update and better support for backwards-compatible games not too long ago, Microsoft has now officially cut the price of its current-gen console down to $300, a $50 discount from its initial list price.

Xbox Live director Larry Hryb, aka "Major Nelson," announced on Xbox Wire that the new limited-time offer will run from Dec. 9 to Dec. 26. During that span of days, all Xbox One bundles will drop in price by $50 in the U.S.

Microsoft's announcement came just a few days after Sony dropped the price of the PlayStation 4 down to $300. It should be noted that Sony's promotion ends on Dec. 19, giving Microsoft a full week to enjoy its price advantage.

The Washington tech giant also introduced a new digital game sale. From Dec. 22 to Jan. 7, Microsoft will offer an assortment of Xbox games on a daily and weekly basis as part of its "Countdown" sale.

Meanwhile, Xbox division head Phil Spencer recently teased on Twitter that 2016 will be a fun year for new IPs.

"Lots of marketing lines for the different years but for new IP, 2016 is going to be a fun year for us," he said.

Some of the new franchises arriving either first or exclusively to the Xbox One are "Quantum Break," "Scalebound", "Sea of Thieves," "Ashen," "Inside," "Below," "Cuphead" and "ReCore."

Spencer also confirmed on Twitter that Microsoft has new games for 2016 that hasn't even been announced. The executive answered in the affirmative when asked if the company has any Xbox games planned for next year that people still don't know about.

His short reply echoed what Microsoft marketing executive Yusuf Mehdi said earlier this month. Per VideoGamer, Mehdi told an audience at the Credit Suisse Technology Conference that the Xbox One had the best line-up of games for 2016, following an impressive 2015 campaign that saw the release of "Rise of the Tomb Raider," "Halo 5: Guardians" and "Gears of War Ultimate Edition."

Mehdi's statements followed those from Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg, who said next year's line-up could be bigger than this year's.

"I really feel like the team is firing on all cylinders and we're not going to stop after this holiday," Greenberg told GameSpot in October. "Frankly, next year's lineup is as big if not bigger."

Microsoft is currently on a roll as the Xbox One has outsold the PS4 in the US during October. Read full story here. Very soon, we'll find out which console dominated November as NPD data is scheduled to be released this week.