It simply is what it is.
MS acknowledge that their projected demand is much less than they previously thought. Sure, the first couple waves were fantastic...probably exceeding what they expected, but I'm sure the drop really threw them a curve ball.
My guess is that MS are trying to recalculate demand.
UK, for all intents and purposes, is the perfect country for this...it has many many benefits and virtually zero risks.
First of all, the currency rate. The pound already equates to higher than the dollar value of the xbox in USA. The only thing being cut is margin profit. Bundling the game probably works out to being even, depending on the contract. They are probably only losing the profit on each game, but giving the consumer enough savings to go and get another game, or controller, which would recoup the loss and strengthen the livingroom presence. (the more someone owns, the harder it is for them to let it go).
Secondly, UK reflects US sales in rough proportion. It has mimicked sales in US for the past gen, and has a pretty strong fanbase, and similar tastes to the American market in terms of genres.
Lastly, a strong boost around launch of titanfall could help propel the game and system upward worldwide.
Basically, MS has found a way to boost word of mouth advertising, strengthen presence, and do it for almost no cost other than potential missed margin profit. We already know MS is profitting slightly on every console, so we know they would be more than willing to make this cut permanently worldwide.
Ms wants to see what this does for sales before applying doing it in other countries where the percent of margin loss would be far higher.
