PS4 is crushing Xbox One right now
PS4 sales top 10 million worldwide, while Xbox One still only around 5 million | ExtremeTech
At Gamescom in Germany, Sony has announced that the PlayStation 4 has sold over 10 million units since it launched less than nine months ago in November 2013. By comparison, it took well over a year for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 to break 10 million units sold. The PS4 is undoubtedly a runaway success. Meanwhile, Microsoft still hasn’t released any recent sales figures for the Xbox One, suggesting the console isn’t doing all that well. Our estimates put the Xbox One at around 5 million units sold through to customers — or about half the total sales of the PS4. According to a fateful quote by ex-Xbox chief Don Mattrick, it would appear that the PS4 has won this generation’s console war.
Way back in 2008, the Xbox 360 beat the PS3 to selling 10 million units in the US. Filled with celebratory hubris, then-Microsoft devices chief Don Mattrick said the following fateful words: “History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle.” It was an odd thing to say at the time, and the Xbox 360 certainly didn’t go on to win the war (it was a tie), but it’s certainly an amusing quote that every PS4 fan should keep in reserve.
Xbox 360 Comparison
The Xbox 360 did well, but despite launching a year ahead of the PS3 could still only manage a tie over the entire generation
It’s also worth noting that the 360 was launched a full year ahead of the PS3 — and that despite the head start, total sales for the Xbox 360 and PS3 are virtually tied at 83 million each. For the PS4 to be at 10 million worldwide sales after just nine months is not only a huge achievement, but a good sign that the console will enjoy a very healthy trajectory over its lifetime. Sony’s European president, Jim Ryan, twisted the knife with the following clarification at Gamescom: “Just to be clear, that’s 10 million PS4s sold through to consumers.” (Here he’s referring to the fact that Microsoft has only reported the number of Xbox Ones shipped to retailers, rather than actually sold to customers.)
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What this means for the Xbox One, though, is unclear. On the one hand, ~5 million consoles sold in nine months is still objectively very good — but as far as gamers, and more importantly developers are concerned, it still makes the Xbox One the loser. Just a couple of days ago, Crytek, which developed the Xbox One exclusive Ryse, said it’s “not 100 percent happy with Xbox One sales right now,” and will wait for console sales to increase before considering a sequel. If the sales gap continues to widen and the Xbox One becomes an also-ran like the Wii U, you can certainly expect some developers to jump ship to the PS4, or at least be much more reticent about developing Xbox One exclusives. (Though, Microsoft did just announce that the Rise of the Tomb Raider sequel will be an Xbox One exclusive.)
