Official Xbox One sales have been largely a mystery, but now Microsoft is finally admitting it candidly: The PS4 has outdone the Xbox One — by a lot.
Microsoft stopped reporting Xbox One sales numbers at the start of fiscal year 2016, focusing instead on Xbox Live numbers. This change means we don’t officially know how well the Xbox One compares to the PS4 after the turbulent Xbox One launch. Microsoft ranks third after Sony and Nintendo in analyst estimates, and now the documents (a word document) submitted to Brazil’s national competition regulator (found in Gandhi’s game) finally shed some light on how the Xbox One generation is performing.
“Sony outperformed Microsoft in terms of console and game console sales, selling twice as much Xbox sales over the last generation,” Microsoft said, translated from Portuguese.
Sony is no longer announcing PS4 shipments, which means lifetime sales as of March were 117.2 million. Although Microsoft hasn’t provided a consistent sales figure for the Xbox One, including it means the company has sold nearly 58.5 million units. Combine with Market Research & Analysis In 2020, Xbox One install base reached 51 million units at the end of Q2 2020. The Nintendo Switch is currently at 111.08 million lifetime sales and looks set to surpass PS4 later this year.
Microsoft appears to be closing this giant gap with its Xbox Series S/X consoles. Amp Analysis “Sony is targeting total PS5 sales of 17 million units in 2021, 1.6 times the Xbox series sales performance.” When Microsoft republished a quarter of a recent decline in hardware revenue for Xbox, CEO Satya Nadella said that Microsoft “has been the market leader in next-generation consoles in North America for three consecutive quarters of the year”. Microsoft has yet to release official Xbox sales numbers.
The Xbox One may not have sold very well, but Microsoft’s work on the Xbox One generation laid some important foundations for the Xbox Series S/X. Microsoft Xbox Series X 1440p support, variable refresh rate (VRR) and 120Hz gaming were released with testing of these features on Many previous Xbox One consoles.
Microsoft’s acknowledgment of poor Xbox One sales comes as part of a broader dispute between Sony and Microsoft over the Xbox maker. Activision acquired Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Sony and Microsoft are arguing Call of dutyGame subscriptions and more Microsoft is trying to get in Brazil. Microsoft also made the claim in documents submitted to the Brazilian regulator that Sony pays for “blocking rights.” To prevent developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass.