We all know that somehow Sony’s PS5 outperforms Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S. Sony gives us sales data, Microsoft hasn’t for years. People generally don’t keep quiet about these things when the news is great. And new data seems to point to what we all suspected: the Xbox Series X/S will be overtaken by the PS5, with two PS5s potentially being sold for each Xbox.
Microsoft’s Xbox sales have been a mystery since 2016, when the company has stopped reporting hardware sales. We learned this during Microsoft’s regulatory battles over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard The PS4 outsold the Xbox 2:1. Now, with a little napkin math, a financial report detailing the number of next-gen consoles on the market appears to reveal that Microsoft’s latest console isn’t doing any better.
According to a slide from Take-Two Games Q3 financial reportAs of December 2023, approximately 77 million “Gen 9” consoles have been sold. Gen 9 stands for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Figuring out how much of that 77 million is on Xbox and how much is on PS5 isn’t too difficult, although Microsoft refuses to provide sales statistics. Instead, we can look at Sony’s stats, which revealed this in December 2023 50 million PS5s have been sold to consumers. Assuming that Sony has sold about a million more consoles since then, it’s likely that Xbox has only sold about 25 million consoles worldwide. When you add it all up, Sony’s PS5 probably sold twice as well as the Xbox Series X/S.
Normally this data wouldn’t be all that exciting and wouldn’t set off too many fire alarms online, but keep in mind that many Xbox fans are currently waiting to see what the future of the brand will look like after reports emerged that suggested big exclusives Starfieldcould find their way to the PS5. It created a huge firestorm As people wait to hear from Xbox boss Phil Spencer next week and what the future of Xbox looks like.
More data showing how not-so-popular Xbox consoles are selling doesn’t help reassure these people, as they worry about the unlikely scenario that Microsoft pulls a Sega, drops its consoles and its games published on all platforms. Next week can’t come soon enough.
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