New sales data suggests that the PlayStation 5 may have outsold the Xbox Series X|S by roughly a 2:1 margin. While it was common knowledge that Sony was outpacing Xbox in terms of console sale, this gives a stronger picture of how the two manufacturers compare.
According to a slidedeck from Take-Two games, there have been 77 million Gen 9 console sales, as of December 31, 2023. Microsoft does not currently release console sales data, but in November 2023 PS5 hit 50 million units sold. That would put Xbox Series X|S sales at just under 27 million, depending on exactly how December shook out. It’s worth noting here that every Xbox console was sold at a loss, as of 2022. It is currently unknown if that is still the case. PlayStation 5, for example, no longer sells at a loss.
This information colors a recent report, which claimed that Xbox first-party games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Starfield could be coming to PS5. Titles like Halo Infinite and Avowed have not been mentioned in the rumors. In response, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that there will be an update on Xbox’s future plans next week. Microsoft also recently laid off 10,000 employees, about 1,900 of which are coming from the company’s video game division.
Despite the rumors, there’s no indication that Xbox plans to move away from manufacturing consoles, although it’s strategy for years now has increasingly centered around things like Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said on a recent earning call thatXbox games going multiplatform would likely not have a big impact on the industry at large. For the quarter that ended on December 31, 2023, Xbox posted a big boost in sales, thanks to the Activision Blizzard deal. The sales totaled $7.11 billion. Overall revenue increased, but console sales only went up by 3% during the holiday season. Xbox took an operating loss of $440 million in the quarter.
