Microsoft currently has to justify the purchase of Activision Blizzard in a court in Brazil. This involves questions of competition law. In this context, the Xbox parent company has commented on its console sales, and it turns out: The Xbox One had no chance against the PS4.
What were the sales figures for both consoles? Sony recently released final figures for PS4 console sales. The end of the lifecycle of the PlayStation console is now officially reached.
- Sony reported 117.2 million PS4 sold (all models, via twitter.com)
Microsoft is withholding the number of units sold of their Xbox. However, they have commented in a report to a Brazilian court on how many units of the Xbox One were sold compared to the PS4.
- The PS4 sold twice as strongly as the Xbox One
The report states: “Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales, as they sold more than twice as many during the last generation as Xbox” (via gameluster.com).
Accordingly, less than 58.5 million Xbox One consoles were sold. This aligns with a previous report from “Ampere Analysis,” which came to around 51 million units (via ampereanalysis.com).
More about the battle of the two gaming giants before the Brazilian competition authorities can be found here:
- PS5: Sony comments on Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard – “Call of Duty has no competition, will never have any”
- Xbox scoffs: Sony fears that a new Call of Duty will come free to Game Pass on day one and destroy the PS5’s dominance
The “console war” of the 8th generation between Sony and Microsoft clearly goes to PlayStation. This was not necessarily foreseeable before the launch of the consoles in November 2013. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 had a very close battle in the 7th generation:
- 87.4 million PS3
- 84 million Xbox 360
- Source: escapistmagazine.com
Nintendo played no role in this console generation, by the way. It was the time of the Wii U, a hybrid console operated with a large handheld controller (released in 2012).
What happens next? Even in the current 9th console generation, analysts see PlayStation ahead again, but not with the significant lead of the last generation.
However, the gaming industry is currently at a crossroads, and both Sony and Microsoft stand for different strategies, which was less the case before. Roughly speaking, this means:
- Xbox is pushing with its Game Pass and expanded compatibility into the market. PC and console are increasingly aligning, and it will soon be more a matter of choosing between controller/couch and mouse/keyboard/desk. They want to bring even large paid titles into the affordable Game Pass at launch.
- Sony, on the other hand, wants to continue to protect its big games and score points with exclusivity at launch. They prefer to focus on free-to-play and service games to make their gaming offer more accessible. However, they are also reacting to aggressive competition and have significantly adjusted and expanded their PS Plus offering.
The next few years will show how the market decides. Currently, we are in a consolidation phase, and many studios are being acquired by the biggest players: Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft, Bungie by Sony.
EA and Ubisoft are no longer safe either. The CEO of Activision Blizzard once explained why this is the case: Activision Blizzard explains why they had to sell themselves rather than buy EA
