PlayStation Well Ahead of Nintendo, Xbox In Terms of Brand Momentum, Says Sony

I’d say wait until Nintendo comes out with their new console but they only seem to pop out 2-3 AAA games a year (if we’re lucky)

I’m not entirely convinced that they’re tracking higher than Nintendo. The Switch is an absolute juggernaut across all demographics.

Considering the Switch has consistently outsold Playstation hardware by a pretty large margin until this year, I'd be curious to know what they mean by "brand momentum?"

Switch was monstrously huge during the pandemic, especially, with Animal Crossing dominating social media.

The PS5 is doing extremely well, but I'm calling shenanigans on this chart unless they actually define their terms.

The most arbitrary graph I've ever seen 🤣

"Sony is awesome," says Sony.

Last Nintendo console I owned was the GameCube and last Xbox I owned was a 360 and have no intention of buying any of their future consoles

It's been like this for decades.

insert Obama giving Obama a medal meme
Man, Sony is really showing off, though they do have some numbers to show for it.

I expect that the Switch's momentum will slow down a little after ToTK. There's really no big Nintendo game around the corner after (unless by miracle, they finally announce Metroid Prime 4).

Still, I wouldn't underestimate Nintendo. You never know what they have under their sleeves.

Brand momentum??? 🤣

Well I heard that Nintendo's brand traction was actually higher.

@JP80
Same here. The Wii and One, along with repetitive IP releases, killed Nintendo and MS as interesting alternatives for me and I haven’t really looked back, especially since I have gotten into VR gaming.

Surely Nintendo isn’t doing that bad, especially over the last 4 years. They’ve had some very high points, from Smash Ultimate, to Animal Crossing. Of course Sony is gonna favor themselves, but at least make it believable

@Shepherd_Tallon yes, because there's never been an instance at any point in history of a company lying to its employees /s

It sure is a weird metric. And as it's coming from SIE instead of an independent third party, I don't have a lot of faith in this graph.

Nintendo seems lower than I would have expected, and I would have expected them to get some peaks appearing for their largest releases.

@Shepherd_Tallon I think, in this case, it's more likely that Sony is selecting a set of slightly arbitrary data points to make this claim. You could call this misleading, but what does that even mean with an arbitrary term like "brand momentum?"

You don't have to lie or falsify data if you want to hype up your brand to shareholders.

Nintendo fanboys are really underestimating what kind of Brand momentum Spider-Man 2 will have. not to mention GTA 6 which definitely won't be coming to Switch or Switch 2.

Brand B and Brand C are sure mysterious 😅

I guess we will see how Brand B manages the shift from their current hit toy to whatever is next, I think Sony made a pretty solid transition from PS4 to PS5.

And I have to agree with Phil Spencer Brand C will not outsell PlayStation even if the new Elder Scrolls comes out tomorrow and is exclusive and is amazing.

@Wheatly @Ralizah Yeaaahh...this is clearly the work of some marketing/PR/Social relations department tryhard, or a third party analytics/survey firm's results. Remarkably meaningless, with an undefined meaning of what they're even measuring and what the metrics are, and as you said, ACNH (for better or worse (mostly worse)) was a viral sensation in the worst of ways that would really dominate such a chart.

I wouldn't doubt this is a measure of analytics of the amount of times the word "playstation" is used in social posts vs the word "nintendo" when everybody was using the word "animal crossing" instead. Or the results of those third party surveys that say "how likely would you be to recommend playstation brand products to a friend or family member", "how much more likely are you to buy playstation brand products in the future in the next 6 months, how likely to buy nintendo brand products in the next 6 months" in a survey sent to PS Plus subscribers.

Kind of like the survey some third party analytics company sent for Xbox last year where it had me pick the game I was playing (chose Sonic Frontiers just because I happened to be playing it) and then it asked me what platform I was playing it on, and the options included Game Pass (the game was never on GP), Stadia (which didn't even exist at the time of the survey anymore) or "it's a board game" (????)

If we're talking hardware, it's fair to say Nintendo is plateauing. Holistic brand, though? Sony is aware of the Nintendo theme park, Super Mario Bros. movie and Tears of the Kingdom's successful launch, right?

I don't know that I'd ever say the PlayStation brand was ahead of the Nintendo brand, even when the former stomped the latter in hardware sales. And that certainly hasn't changed now.

I think a lot of people here misunderstand what this is. They’ll be asking random people(not video game player’s necessarily) which of these brands do you know, or which of these brands have you heard of in the past x Months. PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox.

Yes, PlayStation probably has a wider brand awareness than Nintendo, especially if a lot of older people identify with the Switch brand rather than Nintendo.

@Shepherd_Tallon "PSVR2 is the highest regarded video game platform in 2023 with an engagement rate over 500% over any other video game device, according to player data."

It's not a lie, it's not misleading, the player data just happens to consist of a sample size of myself and @thefourfoldroot1 and may not represent 96% of the actual gaming marketplace. But it's 100% truthful meaningless information to get the shareholders wallets oiled up.

@MrRusty you’re wrong btw that the switch was outselling the PS4 the whole time. The Switch was tracking behind the PS4 it’s whole life until the pandemic happened. Ampere analysis has the switch at 50/50 to hit 100m and Nintendo were predicting declining sales figures for 2020 compared to the previous year.

Didn’t Zelda sell 10 million in 3 days lol?

N.i.c.e.Thats why PlayStation is the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.word up son

They are literally pushing against that momentum year after year for several now. I don't disagree that they built a certain pedigree, but you would have to be completely blind or willfully ignorant to not see that as of late, the brand and reputation is being used for widespread profiteering at the expense of fans and long-term perception overall. As a loyal and dedicated PlayStation user for 2 decades now, I think this is the worst they have been in some time.

It's actually even more interesting to see xbox completely squander this opening that Sony is allowing with their lack of fan service, iterative/safe consolidated scope in terms of games and 12 live service schemes, and mobile predation on the horizon.

I really think that in all honesty, both platforms are under delivering this generation thus far, Sony just has more of that brand loyalty behind them to where aside from the more objective observers, they can take advantage of the groupthink masses longer.

If Sony doesn't bring it today and with the roadmap going forward with a back to basics and diverse slate of titles, I think they will turn more heads and perhaps some will wake from their slumber in the coming 18 months or so. It is this hubris that drives these shareholders and the non-gamer corpo mgmt to not even sugar coat their greed driven trajectory.

To blindly root for this or defend it, and post articles boasting about sales figures and fanning console war nonsense is so overtly self-defeating its just sad.

@MrRusty Worldwide collated data launch aligned the PS4 was ahead of the Switch until the pandemic started in 2020.

In fact the PS5 is about to take over the Switch in launch aligned sales too, in either Arpil or May, and that was after being supply constrained for 2 years straight. Some of the availability in that time was atrocious, like Q1 2022.

The switch sold 15.05m in FY 2018 and 16.95m in FY2019. It was then that it hit 21.03M in the FY2020 that was up to March 2020 covering the start of the pandemic and then 28.83m during the FY in the middle of the pandemic.

The PS5 is predicted to sell, by Sony’s own targets, 25M this FY. The Switch never managed that outside to the peak lockdown year.

@MrRusty You’re also conveniently missing out the European sales where the PS4 sold around 46m and the Switch is around 32m. Additionally the rest of the world sales, outside of USA, Japan and Europe, the PS4 is still ahead of the Switch.

@MrRusty I disagree. All the comedies in the US talked about getting a PS5 as the ultimate dream. It was everywhere. Nothing has ever ever come close.

@NEStalgia well if they are popular again why don’t they sell the PS6 at $600 dollars with a CPU-GPU that no one knows how to use and a controller with no rumble in it? I kid i kid, don’t want to upset the locals. But this is a side of Sony i think is always a little annoying, no one thinks for a second the PS isn’t a success every time, outside of handhelds. You don’t see Nintendo saying they are the cat’s meow when the Switch in its first 4 years was destroying numbers. Same with the Wii. I just think when you are successful and confident, you let the product do the talking. No one wants to hear from PR guys that the console is selling well. We know that and what are you ahead of right now? A MS that is has showed nothing and a 6 year old switch. Of course PS5 has momentum on them. We see it in the sales every month. Lastly where was Jim Ryan saying this when he was crying if COD goes to MS, PS is doomed? I don’t like the way that all comes off. I am sure i will take smoke for it, but i had to say it.

@DiggleDog 10.5 but who’s counting right? HAHA Jk

@MrRusty agreed

@ChrisDeku why should it be divided into regions? Switch outsold ps4, most important metric. Also, makes sense that the ps4 was ahead of switch until the pandemic because the ps4 is years longer on the market. And per year on the market the switch and the ps4 had roughly the same sales but the ps4 lost steam and the switch did years later. https://www.vgchartz.com/article/454961/switch-vs-ps4-sales-comparison-august-2022/

@Green-Bandit Sony's just weird in general. They have a very very odd corporate culture. This kind of self aggrandizement is simply not how Japanese business works. There's a default expected humility to all things in Japanese business. Except Sony. An American company? I'd expect it. SIE in the US, yeah, seems par for the course, but we had even the SGC CFO boasting of their 80+% EU marketshare a few months back. That would not be seen as proper in any other Japanese business.

But this chart is particularly weird. It's not a sales chart, it's a "brand momentum" chart, a category of their own definition. But what makes it particularly questionable is a lack of spikes on the Nintendo chart that align with times when Nintendo was absolutely viral. At a time when the Mario movie is massive. Even if the Sony line is accurate, that Nintendo Line looks like a work of fiction from a brand awareness perspective.

Of course this is "brand momentum". Does it indicate total brand awareness or mark rate of increase of brand awareness? If the latter the chart makes sense as the Nintendo brand towered above from the start and can't really increase above the heights it already sits at very much, considering it's above Disney. But to clueless investors that just see pretty colored line graphs with their money behind the line at the top, the numbers don't matter, this will make them feel safe.

@KundaliniRising333 What amazes me about the internet driven collective hive mind is, I don't think there is a slumber to wake from. The modern human brain is wired to want to always be on the winning team, to ensure there is only one winning team so that they can be on it, and to celebrate that they are part of the winning team that has won. The modern mind doesn't like competition or choices, the modern mind wants a singular universal correct answer to all questions, and all choice to come down to simply "the right one vs the wrong one." It's not just games. It's everything!

By momentum they don't mean sales, they most likely mean how much people talk about and search a brand via word of mouth, social media, twitch, youtube, advertising, Google searches etc

But even still, whilst I agree with the xbox brand position I would argue that Nintendo would be way higher especially if it's including the Japanese Market data and the recent release of Zelda TOTK into consideration.

@Friendly No, it was ahead launch aligned. As in when the switch was 30 months old and the PS4 was 30 months old, the sales are compared.

i'd say as a mindshare the PS5 easily tracks ahead of the switch and Xbox series.

PS5 is embedded into western culture and maybe even eastern culture.

If you asked a non gamer to name a console playstation or PS5 would be the first answer in the majority of cases.

Condensing the console name into a 3 digit format was very clever.

@Friendly You also need to understand that items of different cost are being compared. Ford sells more cars than Ferrari but does that mean Ford has better Brand awareness?

The PS5 is currently £390/£480(£540 for the mandatory bundles over the holiday). The switch was £280 and the Switch Lite was £200.

@MrRusty I never once quoted UK sales and implied it was representative of Worldwide sales. I just used the UK prices as an example because I know them right away, i have no idea of the japanese prices but can probably guess American prices.

Let me google that for you. Ok, Switch was $300 and 330 euros(lite was $200 and 230).

PS5 is $500 and 500 Euros(400 for the Digital).

Does that change anything?

Edit: That’s the euro price before the price increase. It’s now 550/450

People really aren’t understanding this graph at all.

@ChrisDeku explained it perfectly.

"We're the strongest gaming brand"

Activision deal somehow gets the green light

"We're the weakest gaming brand"

@MrRusty Actually the price disparity in Japan is even bigger. The PS5 is 60,000/50,000 Yen and the Switch since launch is 30,000 and 20,000 for the Lite.

That’s the one I should have lead with if I wanted to distort the facts.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/be/a1/38/bea138f400c5a07cf3e2f3ba44f70a6a--david-lynch-twin-peaks.jpg

Sony going BOB on the competition.

There's a bit of confusing salt about this stat, where some are confusing sales with brand momentum. Whether or not this stat is close to 100% accuracy or not, its not a stat about games or consoles sold. One massive billion making Nintendo movie of which many already know about Mario. Xbox had what appears to be a very average Halo show. Meanwhile PS had a decently successful Uncharted movie, a very succesful HBO tv show with The Last of Us and now a Gran Turismo movie coming soon, plus Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, Twisted Metal and God of War shows or movies eventually coming. Also Insomniacs Marvels Spider-man goes a long way for adding even more brand momentum for PS

@MrRusty I disagree with your disagreement. "Now" is the key word. I doubt Sony had a time machine when they did their research they presented. Zelda just launched.

@NEStalgia i agree, i mean i am not here to say the PS brand is not all world known and generally liked. I know they are a juggernaut, it’s why i buy one since the beginning and i don’t even like their controllers and i still buy one. But saying to the CMA if MS get’s COD then PS as is business is doomed and yet to see the numbers and fanfare the console has seems completely made up and trying to hurt a rival that can afford such a buyout of a company for sale. Zelda sold 10 million copies faster than a van of soccer moms buying up cup’s of coffee from a Starbucks. Is that not brand momentum? I liked the PS3 and PS4 Sony that were humbled and did their thing, this PS5 and weaker Xbox is going to their head’s again it seems. They earned the right, they have the more desirable hardware and games, but just cause you can don’t mean you should.

@Fizza yet you do understand this graph IS NOT saying Sony is selling more. It has nothing to do with sales,

it’s just saying out of PS, Switch, Xbox. The Ps is the most recognisable brand of the 3. And it has stayed this way for a while.

Take football for example more people would recognise Man Utd or Barcelona over say Southampton and Burnley. Or Coke is more well known than Rola cola or whatever. Or McDonald’s tracks higher over kfc/burger king

Sony should stop saying things about how popular their brand is or Microsoft will try to buy them.

@ChrisDeku ok, feel free to change the metric to whatever fits your need, of course. I think Sony did the same in their chart.

If you look at the chart I gave a link to you can also see that 20 months in Nintendo was ahead. And 32 months in again. So yeah….

Nintendo fanboys assemble!

@Friendly So it’s your claim that sales of 2 products are a perfect representation of Brand Penetration or ‘momentum’? Samsung sells more phones than Apple so they as a company have better brand penetration?

@ChrisDeku nah man. I was just responding to your claim that PS4 was selling more systems than switch during their lifespan.

I know no one likes to acknowledge this fact, but this is why Microsoft is trying to buy ABK. If they do not succeed they will gradually fade into obscurity, which will be good for no one as left unchecked, Sony will be able to do what they like with their pricing strategy. Indeed, it is these figures that enabled Sony to raise the price of their console first, and likewise their games. There is absolutely no way Sony would have launched the PS5 at the same price as the Series X had they not see the Xbox as a competitor (of sorts), and when Xbox no longer exists, Sony won't be forced into selling their consoles at a loss as it likely does now.

As it stands, Sony are so dominant that Microsoft cannot even get any big third-party exclusives. The current split between PlayStation and Xbox is about 70/30, and so Microsoft is immediately at a disadvantage because they have to pay well over the odds to get anything as an exclusive because the Developers would be opting to miss out on 70% of their potential sales by choosing to put their game on the Xbox as an exclusive. It is why the Xbox has not had a single big third-party exclusive thus far this generation.

Any yes, I know people like to say that Microsoft should develop their own exclusives, and they are absolutely right to say so. However, the Xbox needs the influx of those games right now, as to wait even another year, will see them fall still further behind and make competing in any capacity even more difficult.

I know Microsoft say that the ABK is not a make or break acquisition, but that's their public persona. Behind closed doors I imagine they see it very differently...

@MrRusty R.I.P., reading comprehension

Even if the chart were true which just doesnt even make sense, it would just mean PS and ninty are basically neck and neck with PS only coming out on top ever so slightly. Imagine getting so offended that a company thought your oh so precious favorite company had 5-10% less brand momentum than them. Whatever the hell brand momentum even means lmao

@Fizza this isn't about sales. Brand =/= Sales
That's why reading comprehension is important.

@MrRusty take all the internet points you need, buddy.

This is why I don’t trust what these corporations say…they manipulate things to go in line with what they want.

@Ralizah Nintendo also just had a billion dollar movie and opened a theme park..

@nessisonett can't say across all demographics. But gamers in general. Sure.

@Fiendish-Beaver Microsoft fading after they have brought very little to gaming and keep trying to do things that actually hurt the hobby. Not saying Sony is perfect. But hopefully a third competitor can emerge that actually cares about gaming.

Reading these comments leads me to believe about 2.71% of these commenters know what “Brand Momentum” actually means.

@Cutmastavictory Of course I can, in general is literally the same things as across a range of demographics.

Lol, keep dreaming, corporate goons. 😂
You think Sony could earn 1 billion dollars on a God of War film, or open a popular theme park? Doubtful.
No doubt Nintendo and Sony are the top gaming brands, but corporate goons will always suck themselves off 24/7 and make up delusional BS.

I'm personally starting to think Sony is delusional especially after the showcase. I have had a sony game playing machine since (1988 i think i got a sony msx) and i love the brand but what a lot of ***** tbh.

Sony celebrate winning "brand momentum" whilst Nintendo are just happily selling 10 million plus copies of its new game in 3 days and Xbox just sit in a corner trying to hook up with Activision

Do you seriously think that any company could come in now, with Sony so dominant and actually compete, @Cutmastavictory? Like them or not, Microsoft are the only ones that are in with a chance, but that chance is fading, in my opinion. If there is no competition, then it will no be good for any of us in the long run...

Ahead of MS for sure. But I dont know about Nintendo.

@OtsutsukiBoruto your underestimating Nintendo’s.
Tear of the kingdom is gonna do about the same as spider man 2 and the next Mario game now that the movie was such a hit is gonna sell amazingly nevermind the animal crossing and Mario kart sequels that are certainly coming.

@KidRyan i was so disappointed. But glad you had fun

@KidRyan If you are a fan of the franchise then not really tbh. But just turn your brain off and enjoy it yes

@Beerheadgamer82

You really think that TLOU TV series is in the same league as the Mario film? And that game that Nintendo just released that sold 10 million copies in 3 days earlier this month? The fact that the Metroid remake was EVERYWHERE on the internet a couple of months ago?

Regardless of what Sony says, the metrics don’t back up what Sony is saying. The PS5 is doing great, I understand that, now that the console is readily available. But they have not caught the gaming zeitgeist once yet in 2023 and that makes the “momentum” chart a total sham.

@Shepherd_Tallon because companies have never attempted to deceive their shareholders before? /s

@vyseofhr I respect your opinion and I'm not trying to come across as if I know exactly what I'm talking about on this matter, I don't. I was just trying to work out what Sony were on about in this chart stat becuase I myself was left a little confused by it all. I was thinking more along the lines of Spider-man and Wolverine being two hugely successful franchises which are now heavily associated with the PlayStation brand. These are two hugely consistently succesful franchises in many forms of entertainment long before Mario and Zelda existed, on top of the consistently successful Last of Us show when it comes to each episode. That's what I was thinking when it came to brand momentum, not necessarily a recently released game that has sold a bunch. Playstations recent releases on PC these last few years can also be considered brand momentum. Also if you look at every single PS console, all have done consistently well with the PS3 being the only one not to reach over 100 mil consoles sold at around 86 mil. Playstation have never had a console that has sold as poorly as a N64, Gamecube or WiiU. Playstations overall brand momentum has been consistently better than Nintendos these past almost 30 years, regardless of how successful the current Switch is doing. Just trying to work out this brand momentum, I'm not dumping on the other consoles, I'm trying to use facts in my working things out and what all this means