PS4 Outsold Xbox One by 'More Than Twice as Many' Consoles, It's Claimed

NGL 55 million is pretty good for xbox considering you could count the number of good exclusives on a single hand.

Interesting Story...117.2 million units sold I am undecided on Sony shifting as much PS5 Consoles as PS4 just got a feeling Console gaming is on a downward spiral hope I am wrong but thems me thoughts.

@Number09 Classic Home consoles yeah, as you can see on how successful Switch and Steam Deck is, Handheld Gaming is going strong

Twice sounds about right. This gen would have probably seen similar ratios if it wasn't for the chip shortages.

Sony doing significantly better should not be a reason for allowing MS to buy out all the major publishers though. Hope FTC against all odds stops that Activision deal.

@IonMagi I Would love a New Sony Handheld capable of playing PS4 PS3 and PS2 vita and so on and maybe stream PS5 games now that I would buy instantly.

@Number09 it's hard to tell when it's the first time ever we've had such shortages. Only wii had long shortages, though I think they weren't as bad

@Number09 Well Sony aint doing another one. Market Share is basically a Nintendo Monopoly anyway by now

@Number09 if it was for chip shortages then sony would be on for similar figures

Well I think we all knew there was a big gap. Sony came out aggressive (passive) with the PS4...and went for the kill throughout the gen. Served them well.

A lot of fuss is being made of the whole 'paying to keep games off gamepass'...I'd love to know if any of those games were games they didn't have marketing deals with though - then it becomes a story.

Xboxs focus is absolutely different now. Their platforms gamepass'. And they're already changing the landscape with it. Sony have showed they're worried about it. Have showed a need to compete with it. For something thats 'not sustainable', 'killing gaming', 'rubbish', on the PlayStation forums...the fact is its growing. Its growing the Xbox brand. And it's only going to get stronger.

Sooner sony allow gamepass' on their platform the better it will be for them. And the more chance of more than doubling Xbox sales this gen too.

@Number09 why do you see it as a downward trend?
Casuals wont switch to pc for 2x or more.
kids are spending more time than ever looking at screens.
consoles will be here for a while, prob till we stream direct to tvs or just a small box type thing

I really don't see the number of machines sold being anywhere near as important moving forward. I don't even think we'll have dedicated hardware within a gen or 2.

@IonMagi Handhelds don’t generate anywhere near as much software sales, and software prices are normally lower to begin with. They do impressive hardware numbers because they’re bought as toys for Christmas etc. and have low tie-ratio’s.

Best selling Softwares totals (millions of units)

1 PlayStation 2 (PS2) 1,537.00
2 PlayStation 4 (PS4)1,419.50*
3 Xbox 360 (X360) 1,008.03
4 PlayStation 3 (PS3)999.40
5 PlayStation (PS)962.00
6 Nintendo DS (DS)948.76
7 Nintendo Wii (Wii)921.85
8 Nintendo Switch (NS)863.59
9 Game Boy (GB)501.11
10 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)500.01
11 Nintendo 3DS (3DS)389.05
12 Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)379.06
13 Game Boy Advance (GBA)377.42

*Up to Q32020. PS4 is actually over 1.5B units now but Sony no longer give out PS4 software sales individually, only PS4/5 combined

Note: This list is missing Xbox one as MS no longer give detailed breakdowns of their games division

Current state of affairs are roughly
21 - PS5
16 - Series consoles

I do believe a slight up tick for Xbox but of course PS5 supply shortages have not helped at all to keep the 2:1 ratio.
Must be so damaging to Sony at the minute as I think they would probably be at about 30 million PS5 by now and of course increased game, controllers and subscription sales.

@stvevan Exactly. The other day I was thinking Sony is moving its games to PC so it ditches Consoles and just focuses on the PSN as a platform where you access its games on any device. Then I said NAAHH even if that were to happen they'd still provide a custom made box to access their services because they know people can't be fussed about building their own custom setup. And what's that custom made box Sony/Xbox can provide? A console. So I don't think consoles are going anywhere anytime soon.

@Bleachedsmiles Do you have any stats that gamepass is significantly growing? A big part of the subscriber portion is 1 dollar offers and very cheap trials with microsoft awards..Still good for them and for microsoft but i don't believe the hype yet.

Recent comments imply Microsoft wanted a Game Pass deal for COD but couldn't due to Sony exclusivity deals so bought Activision so they could do it. They'll keep COD on PlayStation as if someone wants to pay 6 months Game Pass charge for one game they are laughing all the way to the bank until Sony make their COD killer.

Don’t the chip shortages affect everyone though? Why does it only seem like Sony are struggling to make more?

@Number09 I don't expect the PS5 to sell as many as the PS4 due to the fact there's actual competition this time. The Wii U and Xbox One barely put up a fight, leaving the PS4 as the console to have during that generation. But now Nintendo has the Switch which is doing crazy well and Microsoft has Game Pass going for them as well as these acquisitions such as Bethesda which will be a deciding factor to go to Xbox or PC instead over PlayStation. So while I see the PS5 doing well enough, I'd be shock to see it sell more, if not close to PS4 numbers.

@zebric21 25 mil. active subscribers is number from January, but Microsoft also claimed in their investor calls growth in every quarter since january (one conference call in april and one in july)

@GagaOooLaLa Of course. While nobody claims that stock shortage is same for Series X as for PS5, there is no doubt that Series X isn't readily available in many countries. Series S is another case though...

But fact that it is Series X/S sold 16,5 million while having no first-party game in 2020 and 2022 is clear indication, how much heavy lifting Game Pass is doing.

@Godot25 in the moans about Microsoft buying activison SONY said that game pass is approx 70% of subs ( more in brazil )

The mighty ps4 and especially ps4 pro did really good.im still playing on my ps4 pro.ps4 did run circles around x box one.i still l💖ve the light bar on my ps4 controllers.word up son

@Martsmall Yeah. But Game Pass sub does not mean Xbox console sold, since GP is also available on PC and through cloud.

XBox arguing that PS blocking games from coming to Gamepass but it doesn't mean that games can't be bought from the Xbox store or whatever their storefront is called.
XBox saying that since PS is the console leader that its okay for them to buy Activision cuz it wouldn't affect PS but XBox is the one moving away from consoles and going to a subscription service in terms of how they determine success.
They're trying to argue two different points at once yet they can't even reveal actual data, they just reveal things from which you can glean data from and make your own assumptions from.

• all this corporate tit for tat is stupid lol

The PS5 will sell 130-150m units very easily. The Market has increased significantly since the beginning of the PS4 generation, and the pandemic lead to a ~20% permanent long term increase.

@GagaOooLaLa
Well Sony have sold about 6 million more PS5 than Series consoles. So that is 6 million more chips they purchased. Also don’t forget all the other industries after chips. You tried to buy a new car recently, you might wait about 6 months plus for delivery.

Its doesn't matter what how sold last gen or this gen. What have you done for me lately is all that matters. MS tripped out if the gates last gen but easily made up for it with One X model and has continued to make strides with X/S, GamePass and consumer focus.
PS4 killed it and the secret to its success that no one STILL acknowledges is FORTNITE did not require an active PS+ account to play whereas on Xbox, Gold was required.
This gen Sony has showed up hungover reacting to only what MS does. From late reveal, questionable design choices to many other issues. And now they’re late to streaming games format too.
What I expect to happen and no one should surprised is CoD is going to be on GamePass day one but PS owners might have to pay to play. And Warzone2 will still be multi-platform but MS might require Sony to purchase rights for it to be on PS.
Console wars are a thing of the past. Its all about Brand wars now and MS has been making long term decisions, playing chess, since the introduction of One X.

@PushButtons having to pay to play fortnite on XB1 seems pretty ridiculous. Having Netflix locked behind gold was one of the reasons I didn't get a 360. That plus blu ray and exclusives.

@Dezzy70 Not necessarily. Microsoft in 2020 shifted a lot of Series X chips to the Azure datacenters for xCloud upgrade.

Ps4 is one of the best console generation for me, there's so much great ps4 exclusive games, from uncharted, to spider-man, god of war, persona 5 etc.

Of course now sony didn't have exclusive anymore since all of their games will be ported to pc, so ps5 didn't feels special compared to previous playstation console 😕

@Godot25
Not sure what you mean by that to be honest.
But there are plenty of series s and x consoles sitting on shelves in the UK not sold.

@wiiware I bought the system that I thought had more games (or more upcoming games) that I wanted to play. So I bought the PS4.

My previous system was an Xbox 360, I never bought the PS3.

If Sony releases all their games at some point (with an ever decreasing time delay) on PC, then the console definitely loses at least some appeal.

Why else buy a console if it's not for the games?

Sony could technically spin it about how 360 was doing better than PS3 during the time Microsoft had marketing and timed exclusivity for CoD.

@Number09 Just about every generation they claim PC or console gaming is in the decline. Been playing them for 32 years and haven't seen the sky fall yet.

@Dezzy70 You said that Sony made 6 million chips more then Microsoft. I corrected you by saying that Microsoft sent many Series X chips to their own datacenters to upgrade xCloud. So the probably made more chips.

Well. I can honestly say to you that while Series S is in my country available instantly, Series X started to be available in may/june. And our country is PlayStation land.

Of course it did, there the King for a reason.

The PS4 itself deserved the sales. It was good hardware and good software.

Still, 50+ million units for Xbox is still good. And it never really affected 3rd party support.

I also don't expect the actual console sales to suddenly flip. The Xbox Platform is bigger than the consoles themselves this gen. So trying to directly compare consoles sales won't tell you the health of a platform anymore.

I think the Xbox 50 million figure is only an estimate. I own an Xbox 1 X and i think it's great. I think we need to stop petty squabbling, and all just be grateful for the great content out there for this generation!?

@Godot25
Glad the consoles are more available in your country now.

Sony no longer report PS4 shipments, which means lifetime sales sit at 117.2 million as of March. While Microsoft hasn’t provided a concrete sales number for Xbox One, its admission means the company must have sold less than approximately 58.5 million units. That lines up with market research from Ampere Analysis in 2020, which put the install base of Xbox One at 51 million units at the end of Q2 2020. Nintendo Switch currently sits at 111.08 million lifetime sales, and looks set to pass the PS4 later this year.

@zebric21 But then what does it matter if a percentage of the install base is on a month for a quid offer? Or cheap trials? I’m sure you’ve noticed that those that care most about that are gamers that predominantly play on PlayStation, right? I mean you have to ask yourself why MS do those offers so often. It’s obviously not concerning them…the numbers grow and that helps the stock price.
It’s pretty obvious gamepass is growing… you can wait for the new numbers if you like…(but then you’ll just argue the vast majority of all those millions are on a £1 offer, right?). Or you can also pay attention to how gamepass has shaped the narrative since it’s conception - how it’s shaped xbox. How it’s starting to shape PlayStation. Gamepass is sticking around…it’s moving away from the confines of the console. It is growing.

Obviously they don’t want the majority of gamers just dropping in and out of gamepass whenever there’s a free trial or offer. The vast majority aren’t. But what will ensure that further will be the exclusives to that subscription platform…which is why they’ve invested so much in publishers and studios. They want something month by month that gains/keeps subs. If they can get that then it’s going to get very interesting to see how Sony reacts.

@Sam_ATLUS you have explained what I was saying in a better way thanks 👍

@Shredderlovespizza I agree I am still on the fence on getting a PS5 I had the same dilemma in the PS3/Xbox36 days been gaming from the beginning of Pong.

@claytortot213 I hear you Clay I don't wanner be a doom monger I just have a feeling the market captured the weekend gamers in the past ten years and not all are going to come back.

Sorry if I did not reply to you that is the most responses I have ever had.

What are people even arguing about in here? The article is that PS4 outsold X1 2:1, which shouldn't be surprising to anyone no matter their favorite platform, we could have figured that out during E3 2013.

Microsoft really blew the launch of the Xbox One and they never really recovered from it.

All trust was lost, for me, from that point. They thought they were going to get away with the blatantly anti-comsumer practices, even tried to claim it was for our best experience. It was almost a "do you guys not have phones?" moment.

They've definitely taken steps to learn from that with the Series X|S but it's still Microsoft at the end of the day. They still tried that crap.

@ChrisDeku I don’t see that happening.

@Dudeman1 Your comments are so hilarious to me. Gamepass' has negatively effected a f2p game that's a f2p game - that isn't on gamepass... 🙃

Gamepass, as of today, hasn't negatively impacted anything on Xbox. Actually, that's a lie, gamepass' pretty much killed games with gold.

When I look back at my PS3/PS2/PS1 collection and my lack of ability to just have them work without being locked behind their hardware, It all seems a bit pointless. I mean it's cool hooking everything up for the odd nostalgia trip...but outside of that, looking back has never excited me as much as looking forward.
Then I look at last gen, how the vast majority of my physical games required day 1 patches. How some needed several patches. How some need an internet connection. How some have had their servers pulled since so you can no longer play half the content that's on the disc...
I wonder how much I do actually own of these games. And how many of the games that are actually on the physical disc fairly represented what I actually ended up playing first time round...

I honestly think I'm cool with playing games on a subscription and simply enjoying them when they were released...and then moving on to the next one. Than paying £70 for each game and keeping them on a shelf in hopes one day when I do decide to play them again they actually work.

Of course, all of this ignores the option that you can still buy physical versions on Xbox if you wish... I mean there's nothing to suggest you can't enjoy starfield day 1 as part of your subscription and then buy the physical down the line far cheaper than its day 1 physical price, right?

What’s the problem with Sony not allowing Game Pass on PS5? It’s not like it’s going to affect their console sales, it would more likely increase it so that gamers get the best of both worlds by having Game Pass as well as still being able to play first party exclusives. Game Pass is everywhere now and it’ll soon be an app on the latest Samsung TVs, that will be just the start before it’s rolled out to every other major TV company like LG, Philips, Panasonic etc.

@MaccaMUFC Gamepass on PS5 doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a subscription service, Sony can offer that themselves and keep 100% of the revenue.

Would MS be willing to port over their first party games to PS5 for Gamepass purposes? If not it has no purpose.

More than half and nobody knew about it. Kidding. I dont get why it’s ‘news’ on the internet.
Ms changed strategy, not because they wanted to but because they had no choice.

(I know that I’m going to get gremlins on my back for unpopular opinion but that’s after Spencer got such poor result last gen having a huge part of responsibility in nearly killing the console. Yes less than half consoles is poor)

@Bleachedsmiles So Halo going from a full price game packaged with tons of multiplayer content to a free 2 play game that launched with 4 maps and barely any modes but plenty of cash shop items isn't indicative of their push to subscription based content? Spencer has been saying for months now that the plan is to make money off the backend of games rather than upfront costs. Your argument for hardware makes no sense. You still need some hardware whether you're streaming from a phone or TV. Most games actually do not require day one patches to actually play them and patch servers will be up for a long time. It's hilarious that xbox fanboys are so into the kool-aid they're now talking bad about OWNING something. And don't give me the full price bs. Most people buy a handful of games at most at full price since they go on sale so quick nowadays.

Either way the reality is Sony has dominated gaming by putting out quality content and gamers have chosen their platform. MS is just trying to brute force control by using conglomerate money to buy up everything. No console maker is perfect, but only MS is trying to Spotify the industry and doesn't care what happens to it as long as they're in control. When even ex Xbox executives are questioning what they're doing its a problem.

@Dudeman1 "MS horrible industry practices of consolidating the industry by buying out 3rd party"

Industry consolidation is always happening. It's not unique to MS. Embracer group bought up Deep Silver and THQ, EA bought up Codemasters, Square and Enix merged to become Square Enix, Bandai Namco was created by the merger of, you guessed it, Namco and Bandai. Other publishers hit hard times and either sold off (Midway to WB), went bankrupt (Acclaim), or exist in name only (Atari).

The only thing unique to MS in this regard is that they are a platform holder.

"So Halo going from a full price game packaged with tons of multiplayer content to a free 2 play game that launched with 4 maps and barely any modes but plenty of cash shop items isn't indicative of their push to subscription based content?"

No, Halo 5 launched in a similar state. It was extremely bare in content and features, but featured plenty of micros. Halo Infinite MP going F2P was because of Halo 5's failure to attract an audience.

MS had already commited to the nasty microtransaction route and was messing up Halo prior to GP. These aren't related issues.

@zebric21 You ask someone for stats to prove their argument and then literally list some random numbers as facts with no proof to back them up. 🤣

@Dudeman1 nothing new there in the industry, look at Sony been buying up 3rd parties for years and years since the ps1 days

@Dudeman1 Halo - No, look at what you're writing...usually you're answering your own questions. Does Halo releasing f2p with less content and 'cash shop' items...sound more like the product of a subscription model like gamepass/Psplus (baring in mind it's not on a subscription...as like you've acknowledged, it's f2p)...or a does it sound like a live service model?
And I certainly hope you like live service models...

Ok, well I personally can't think of even a handful of games I have that didn't need a day 1 patch. Nor several patches down the line. But if you tell me most games don't need patches then of course I'll believe you.

My argument about hardware makes no sense? Read what I'm actually writing again.

Re: full price games - in reference if you want to play it day 1, of course.

Its not bad 'owning' your games. You've missed the point.
I'm looking at cyberpunk right now, physical. When I play that back in 10-20years time...which experience will I get? Today's experience after it's been patched for over a year. Or day 1 experience?

I'm looking at driveclub physical. Not even 10years old. If I play that today what experience will I get...same as day 1?

What's the real value in owning these games? That's what I'm trying to get at. For me it's not enough to not be enjoying day 1 releases on a subscription service and playing them there. It does not remove the option of me owning them later if I really want to. You're creating an issue that's currently a non issue.

Sony is indeed a saint...if we forget how they brute forced their own way into the position they're in - which we will, as you're clearly 'delicate'. Gamers will ultimately go with where the games they want to play are.

"Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many [than] Xbox in the last generation."

This come across as counter intuitive position. Sony has more consumers, so that justifies Microsoft locking the majority of consumers who own a PlayStation out of Activision games? How is that consumer friendly? Sounds more like a violation of anti-trust laws.

@Bleachedsmiles No, it's subscription based model either way. For Halo they get more money out of making it free to play rather than locking it behind GP but the same style of monetization is used for either model. Like Spencer has said the end goal is to make money from the back end. If you think giving up $60 for a smaller amount of money each month is going to get you the same quality and type of games then you're delusional. Even if games are still available at full price as well as subscription if the majority don't buy the game and the developers know this it still IMPACTS the games development style. Get it?

There's Youtube video where someordinarygamers literally goes through his Ps4 games and shows how the majority of them can be played offline with the disc without a day one patch. Something you actually cannot do with a new Xbox console and BC games.

What's the value in owning games? Because you can play them at any time in your life, sell, or trade. And please dude how did Sony brute force their way into the top position? Getting a year of timed exclusivity on a handful of brand new IP's isn't it. They became the top dog by being the platform that had the widest variety of great games. They certainly didn't do it by buying every 3rd party developer and publisher they can and locking massive multiplatform IP's to their platform like someone else is doing. Why do you even come to a PS site when you're clearly an Xbox fan and do nothing but play Xbox defense force in every article?

@NintendoEternity kinda not fair to compare a handheld to a console

@Number09 ps5 is 100% not worth it right now . most disappointing playstation release .

Wow PS2 Sales were insane.

Microsoft puked all over themselves with the One after gaining a lot of momentum with the 360. Glad they have picked it up this gen, I want both companies thriving in the console space.

@MaccaMUFC same reason Apple took Epic to court over Fortnite allowing players to make microtransactions outside of the App Store. Sony wouldn't see any money from GamePass since the sign up and payment and everything is done outside of the PSN ecosystem.

Putting it on TVs benefits the TV manufacturer as potential sales over a competition that doesn't have it (until they all do in order to stay competitive). But GamePass isn't going to make people suddenly want to buy a PS5.

@Shepherd_Tallon Content is king and GamePass is leading the charge. The platform is not designed for avid gamers. It's designed for new and casual players. Bethesda and Activision content on GP will be hard to ignore.MS is not done buying IP too bc they are all in on driving GP to the front of the line, top of mind in consumer conscious. And EA would be a huge acquisition too.

Games wise, xbox series first two years are somehow worse than xbox one

@Shepherd_Tallon I think ps5 would have dominated like ps4 did. The shortages definitely worked in MS' favour

@Godot25 "clear indication, how much heavy lifting Game Pass is doing"

I disagree. It seems to me that a lot of people want to buy next/current gen console and xbsx is the only alternative because ps5 shortages have been far worse.

@naruball What? You really want to claim that people are buying console that is available even if they don't want it?

There is literally no proof that this is the case. Especially when we know how last gen went. Even when PS4 was short on supply, people didn't buy Xbox One instead just because that console was available.

@lacerz Nope, because they promised that popular franchises (Call of Duty, Overwatch...) will remain multiplatform.

Microsoft is trying to paint themselves in position "we are third console manufacturer on market." Which is true. And second in terms of revenue. Sony is king revenue wise.

@Freakservo
It’s misleading. They stopped updating numbers regularly for PS4 because it’s not worth it being low sales now. Might update the total number down the line.
They still update the numbers for PS5.

@Bleachedsmiles I honestly think that first-party live service games will be in PS Plus day one. There is too much free-to-play competition for Sony to be able to get away with 80€ live service game like Twisted Metal for example.

@Godot25 Yeah same. If not f2p themselves, makes perfect sense for them to place them on their subscription services and get as many people there day 1. And if that proves a successful move then I wouldn’t be surprised if they try it with other games. The Last of us remake would have been the perfect one really to see how many new subs releasing day 1 would get them on top of physical sales…test whether it was worth looking at in the future.

Same with pc ports…I don’t think Spider-Man selling less day 1 than god of war is going to put them off supporting pc. I do think it will convince them sooner to at some point test day and date with ps5.

@Bleachedsmiles i think going forward will find more "small" day1 release like stray. but imo most 3rd parties prob giving it a few months to look at all the numbers

It’s fun to see this on a regional setting. For example: in NA, PS4 only outsold Xbox 1.2 to 1, but in Europe, they outsold it 3.5 to 1.

Regional markets are all very very different, and even with the Xbox underperforming last gen, it did admirably well in NA.

My prediction for this gen:
Between 1.8 and 2 to 1 in Europe in favor of PS5
Between 1.25 and 1.4 to 1 in NA in favor of Xbox.

Extra reference: PS3 vs 360
1.57 to 1 in NA in favor of Xbox
1.28 to 1 in Europe in favor of PS3

PS4 still more appealing for me than XBOX ONE.
The machine design, the retail box color, the cover design are the best on PS4.