Sony Shipped 4.5 Million PS5's Last Quarter, Almost Five Times More Than Xbox Series X|S

Considering the ps5 is ancient technology,no first party games etc that's pretty good.

It's funny to think that when these systems launched I thought the Xbox might put up a good fight or even win, but it looks like it's Joever for them

I didn't realise it till the other day when I looked at my games collection, but I don't really play many 1st party Playstation exclusive games.

Not everything obviously but the vast majority of my games are multi platform Sports games or Racing games that could technically be played on either console.

I don't know what it is though, I just always have and always will prefer to play them on Playstation.

I guess at heart I'm more into Nintendo exclusives than anything else, but Nintendo always pump out under powered consoles so playing EA Sports FC24 as an example on the Switch just doesn't quite cut it.

Big whoop. PlayStation is still failing gaming faithful; who cares if Xbox lost their gamer bro market.

The industry is in one of the worst states it's ever been in. The workaday gamer has better things to think about.

I will note, though, these sort of numbers makes the year of Microsoft's Acti-Blizz acquisition being scrutinized by PlayStation faithful as a monopolistic takeover more ridiculous in retrospect. I was still hoping it would be just what XBox needed to complete again, but instead Microsoft spent too much money and came out the other end destroying their reputation.

In before the "but but Xbox don't care about hardware"

They clearly do as right now they are counting on new users to bump up the gamepass numbers and are making another console and apparently an handheld. They are relying on hardware to keep the brand alive after their cloud initiative as obviously failed.

@UltimateOtaku91 If Xbox didn't care, they would report their sales numbers. They haven't since like 2017, which tells me that they do care and the don't want people to know how badly they are doing.

Doesn't matter. Once Nintendo Switch 2 launches and it proves capable of running top end AAA games, PlayStation is dead just as Xbox. Problem is Sony can't afford to keep a Zombi console around, as oposed to Microsoft.

It’s a shame really that all 3 are not in a very healthy condition. Yes Sony have competition from Nintendo and other forms of entertainment.
But Sony are at their best when their backs are against the wall and they have to come out fighting.
Currently they seem to be on a slow cruise first party big AAA games wise and still doing very well console sales wise and have kept a high cost of the console to buy.

I hope this doesn’t give them the impression they can continue like this, in slow relaxed Sony mode.

2023 was at the same time the best and worst year for Xbox: 3 new exclusive IPs and a new Forza.
The latter was a real disappointment and more like a beta than a complete game, Starfield was just "good" e did not make Xbox relevant except for a month and Redfall....well, Redfall.
Hi Fi Rush was the only hit and the first Xbox exclusive capable of winning prizes in the same year of Zelda ToTk, BG3, Alan Wake 2 and many more and we know how it ended.
I think SX will struggle to achieve the same number of Xbox One expecially after the multiplat strategy and an all time low faith in the brand.

I turned my xSx on 5 times last quarter. I still get gamer rage at the amount of ads on the dashboard now and the pinned group folders being exiled to a sub sub menu.

@Sil_Am Nintendo are always a gen behind in terms of hardware so at most the Switch 2 will be as powerful as a PS4 but with some limitations due to being an handheld. So any PS5 only games won't be running on that console plus Nintendo's main selling point is it's abundance of first party exclusives, no one's buying it primarily for third party games especially the casuals.

@Sil_Am just because the rumored switch 2 will be as powerful as a PS4 doesn’t mean that all of a sudden Nintendo will be going after PlayStation and Xbox gamers. That isn’t Nintendo’s target demographic and hasn’t been for several years. Hardware power doesn’t hold Nintendo back. It’s more about products, ideology, and how a firm leverages their tools they put out.

Green team guys here hating like usual instead of hyping up hellblade 2 which releases soon.

Yeah Microsoft messed up,

@Sil_Am nah. Sony will be fine. Quite different audiences.

@UltimateOtaku91 I didn't buy the switch just for their first party games, I bought it to play some third party games too. But I've not really used it much. It was just nice to play games in handheld.

@OldGamer999 "Sony are at their best when their backs are against the wall and they have to come out fighting"

Strongly disagree. They did exceptionally well with ps2 and ps4, when they were comfortably outselling everyone else.

@CutchuSlow I think the point is that the primary reason one buys a switch is the first party games, as opposed to ps consoles that many people buy just to play Fifa /CoD.

@get2sammyb Steal it is lightly saying it. Remember my comments. You'll see.

@naruball
Correct but after the PS3 I don’t think they meet expectations. So with the PS4 they where amazingly perfect. The PS4 overall is my favourite PlayStation.

@naruball
Correct I have a Switch just for the Nintendo exclusives.

@OldGamer999 I feel the same way about ps4.

@naruball but they said no one and I was just pointing out that I am at least one who bought it for just being a handheld. If it only had 1st party games, and no third party games, I wouldn't have bought it. Coz I don't really play their 1st party games much. Only played xenoblade chronicles 2 and 3.

With numbers this bad, I won't be surprised if some publishers choose not to put their games on XBOX. Especially with all the extra work needed to make those games work on Series S.

@CutchuSlow I mostly play remastered of xbox360/ps3 games (the best era imo) on switch, along with all the indie games. Switch is still good for third party and a lot more accessible than ps5/xsx for family situations

@Sil_Am We will be lucky if the Switch is even Series S level dude.

And that tally will grow because Xbox gave up. It's a two horse race from here on out and the industry is not going to better for it because Nintendo provides more of a complimentary option than a serious competitor to the hardware Sony releases.

Nintendo stealing PlayStation market? Never. PlayStation was created to attract the generation of gamers who grew up with Mario and Sonic, but who were then too old for such kids game. From the beginning Sony has targeted the market of mature audience, in contrast of Nintendo who stayed a family/kids audience. Nintendo and Sony never competed directly. Most household have a PS and a Switch, but almost never a PS and a Xbox.

@Sil_Am Don't think anyone will remember your comment, because it's not going to happen and it doesn't make sense anyway.

Switch 2 is almost guaranteed to be a continuation of the current strategy. Nintendo have thrived ever since abandon the power race (WiiU misstep notwithstanding), there's little to gain and everything to lose by suddenly changing.

Why are they totally disregarding the extreme supply constraints that were present for the first two years of the PS5's life?

The fact that it's basically at the same sales level as the PS4 at this time is actually really good.

@Sil_Am There is NO chance that a Switch 2 can run AAA games at anywhere near the level of the PS5. This is delusional.

Unless the Switch 2 becomes a console that needs to be plugged in at all times and lose all portability, it will never happen.

I own a Switch btw.

@Perturbator
It already happens, particularly with Japanese games, and will happen more often.

@Sil_Am posted like someone who doesn't understand gaming hardware.
Portables are extremely restricted by their portability, they cannot have powerful CPU's etc because of this power limitation, and can never compete with a design that does not need to be portable.

I'll be happy to have a switch 2 once its released for the ninty exclusives I want to try, just as I have a switch now. But its lunacy to think it will be as powerful as something like the PS5 or series X, with most knowledgeable estimates equating its power to being comparable with PS4, but having some decent upscaling tech to allow for 4K. That's still extremely exciting for a handheld unit, but it's not gonna compete with the fixed units of series X or PS5.

If you wish to become more enlightened on these design limitations there are some great web resources to help you understand.

I think the first party/second party line up in the first 3-4 years have been better than the PS4 first 3-4 years. We've gotten a new god of war, horizon, ratchet, 2 Spiderman, gran Turismo 7, and new IP like returnal and stellar blade. Not to mention the amazing helldivers 2.

These figures cement why Sony's PC strategy is vastly superior, which I have been saying from the start. They can still get some revenue from PC sales, but do not cannibalize their console sales like how Xbox does. So, if there is any wonder why Xbox is in trouble to the tune of needing to spend $80B more than Xbox has ever made over the last few years and go multi-platform, it's because they implemented a system that tanks their console sales and implemented a system that tanks their game sales.

Congrats to Sony, but I am not sure what Microsoft can even do at this point to gain any market share. The mindset is too stuck on PlayStation - even for those who play games where platform doesn't even matter.

There is clearly a thirst for Microsoft's games (judging by all the comments about Microsoft porting games to PlayStation), but zero interest in buying the consoles (people would rather port beg).

Then again, Microsoft keeps shooting itself in the foot with a complete lack of direction and bad news - that certainly doesn't help and I am sure even less console will be sold this period with just how bad Xbox's reputation has tanked.

Thing is, I don't want Sony to go unchecked in the "premium console market", either. Microsoft has to figure out something or someone else needs to come in and stick it to Sony to keep it from getting complacent.

I know a lot of "chest thumping" happens when Sony is on top here - which is understandable - but this also is not a good thing, either.

@Titntin Believe me, I wish PS and Xbox could stick around, but I'm not optimistic they'll be here in 10 years, as physical consoles anyway.
As publishers, that's another thing, they'll keep pumping games, no matter the platform.

@UltimateOtaku91 The problem Xbox has is they can't actually decide if they care about hardware or not. All signs still point to an internal war with one camp pulling for them to push on hardware sales, focus on platform, and use the gazillion dollars of IP they bought as must-have exclusives to push their hardware, and the other half, the business half of the company that couldn't give a sneeze about hardware and just wants to make bank selling those IPs on PC and mobile.

Most likely? They make hardware, fail to promote and advertise it, it performs very poorly, the internet argues about if it matters if it performs poorly, and for the next 8 years we still argue if XB will have hardware after that or not, and meanwhile we hear constantly how supreme their MAU is across Android and iOS while they flog Bethesda and Blizzard games PC market, mysteriously stop talking about cloud but insist it's a growth rocket while not actually rolling any promised features out for it, and give mixed messages about what will and won't be on Game Pass and how much it will cost. One quarter they'll seem to care about their hardware, and then another quarter they won't, leaving everyone confused where they stand.

We'll know more about their thinking in June. if every reveal starts with "Launching first on Game Pass, Xbox Series X, and XBox Series S" and is loaded with mobile and PC-only stuff....it'll send a message.

Meanwhile PS numbers will drop as Switch 2 takes over the scene, but won't sell as well as Switch 1, and Push will feature weekly "It's not what it looks like!" articles as the rest of us argue whether Playstation Store PC players are "real Playstation fans" or not, and if PS6 isn't a vanilla PC inside, PS7 will be because publishers are tired of having 6 platforms to port to when they could just to iOS, Android, and PC and be done with it.

@GreatAuk The pent up demand has been met now, at this point anyone who wanted one during that time has one, so it's equalized to where it would have been anyway. If anything the shortages increased sales over where they otherwise would have been as it increased the scarcity appeal of the PS5 and drove sales simply because it was the "in" product to have if you could get one.

@GamingFan4Lyf I think the gaming landscape is going to change dramatically but I don't know exactly into what. I think more likely it will be a bumpy 10+ years where we're pulled in different directions for our money. I don't see how Xbox can recover as a "console." I think they can do OK merging PC and console together with basically an Xbox branded gaming laptop with a curated UI.

It seems like the real momentum will be mobile and the "console wars" may just shift to Android/iOS over time with dockable phones as they get more powerful. But with that comes an end to normal "full price software" too. A war over enthusiasts only maybe? That'll get expensive fast. Streaming was to be the great equalizer but it seems like the push has stalled on that, I suspect due to interest rates.

Young people don't buy dedicated electronics appliances to perform a single task.

Console gaming exists on milking old customers. The X360 "dudebros" was sort of the last wave of real new console gamers. Where does it go after that?

@NEStalgia All the more reason to maybe switch back to PC (and a Nintendo console).

If most of the gaming industry turns to garbage, I can at least rely on my Steam/GOG library of early 2000s and older games as well as emulation available on PC.

@GamingFan4Lyf Theres logic in your statement, but as someone who has had a top end PC for the last 30 years, it remains my least favourite way to play games by a long long way.
It may be two years old now, but I have a i900k with a 3090 with all the trimmings and have barely loaded a game up on it, despite it having its own 48inch C1 oled as one of its monitors. I can't stand playing games on such a bloated OS with so many variables that means nobody ever gets the same experience. Never mind the heat that GPU's kick out when they are asked to work - its like being back with the PS4 pro only you have to sit much nearer it..... and you always spend time having to download new drivers or optimising settings, by the time your ready to go you;'ve lost the brief 45 minutes you were gonna have a quick go on something. Hate gaming that way.
I'll always have one as a fall back on, but consoles need to be well dead and buried before I'd ever choose to play games that way!

Given how horrible Microsoft manages its gaming department since the E3 that introduced / announced the Xbox One, the Sony numbers seem weak. I would like to know who had the biggest profit in gaming in 2023 (MS, Sony, Nintendo).

Can anybody tell me why the title has an apostrophe for PS5’s when the article does not, for the same sentence?

Title:
“ Sony shipped 4.5 million PS5’s last quarter “

Article:
“ Sony shipped 4.5 million PS5s last quarter “

I’m sure there must be a reason. Did a different person write the title and article? Oh and I ask not to be nit picky, but b/c I don’t know what the plural of PS5 is,. EVERYONE refers to PS5 sales like it’s one thing, but there isn’t only 1 PS5. Just like there are 2 Xbox models, which has X and S, Sony has physical and digital, but everyone seems to forget, or neglect, that part, and just says PS5.

How do you refer to multiple PS5 skus @NEStalgia ?

We have a roadmap to Xbox sales. The Take-Two announcement that allowed us to subtract Sony’s numbers to come to Xbox sales between 24-25 million and then year by year growth and decline. Year two saw a 63% increase followed by back to back 30% declines.

Year 1 - 5.4 million
Year 2 - 8.8 million (63% growth)
Year 3 - 6.2 million (30% decline)
Year 4 - 4.3 million (30% decline)
Total - 24.7 million

It's likely because of the Xbox multiplatform saga combined with Sony putting the PS5 on sale frequently during January - March 2024. That 2 week period when the rumours spiraled out of control and Microsoft just said nothing would've especially done a load of damage to people's interest in buying Series X|S.

@rjejr

How do you refer to multiple PS5 skus

Didn’t you do it right there?

Microsoft was pretty much giving Series Xs away during the Christmas season last year online for $300 and apparently couldn't move product even then.

The brand is dead in the water, even in the U.S.

@Titntin I was a PC gamer for years and I stopped around 2011 and went all console for the very same reason - I just got tired of tinkering.

It seemed like the way settings have been handled on the PC side as more and more console games released on PC, 1080p/Medium to Low settings would be enough for steady framerate on most hardware configurations.

I still do light gaming on the Surface Book 2 I have for work (my company allows it) and, for the most part, it works well as long as I keep my expectations in check - it does have a mobile Nvidia 1060 w/ 6GB dedicated VRAM, but it's basically a potato in 2024.

I can run modern games like Starfield at Low at 720p and get 30fps. Sure, it's not PS5 or Series X, but it worked with no problem.

My dad got a laptop to do some video processing stuff and it has an Nvidia 3050. I installed and fired up Control on it once when I was visiting him and was able to run full RT plus Ultra settings at 720p and it looked like it was running quite well. He paid like $600 for it (on sale).

Time will tell, and, like you, the entire console market will need to collapse before I take that jump.

But if Microsoft's next "console" is a gaming PC that exceeds the ease of use of the Steam Deck and allows Steam/GOG/Epic storefronts to be used, that may be the only "console" I buy as Sony games release on PC (eventually) and I highly doubt it would ever get away with blocking a PC from playing its games from Steam simply because Microsoft manufactured it.

@GamingFan4Lyf
I get the attraction of a PC hybrid console and its clearly where MS are going.
But I simply don't want to give MS any of my money any more, so that will be a battle of will power to stay away.
As an Ex dev, who knows many out of work devs looking for work, I already cancelled my GP subscription last September, as I firmly believe that GP is killing studios and has de-valued the worth of new games to the point where much fewer buy them. That was a tough choice as there are many games I'd like to look at on GP, but ultimately I live by my own conscience and could not excuse myself partaking in the very thing I saw as one of the issues. Now we are seeing more of the MS playbook, I want to try and drop them completely and for the first time in over 40 years gaming I'm contemplating a future where I don't own all the consoles . I might feel differently once its a reality, but I'm a stubborn old git and I don't often let myself ignore an issue I feel deeply about, so we'll see.
Happy gaming mate, where ever you do it

Just too many mistakes from MS (not saying Sony haven't made any) - and i think putting all their eggs in the game pass basket is the biggest.
I also think the Activision buyout has not and will not do xbox any favours.

@Fartingale Yeah, I can't stand the Xbox UI, it's just too busy. It's been downhill in that department since the after the 360 days.

@Titntin Good luck with that. I guess you will be going Mac or running SteamOS or something?

It is almost impossible to be completely Microsoft-less this day and age given how many cookie jar it has its hand in.

Heck, for all we know, this site runs on a Microsoft backend of some kind.

But, yeah, Microsoft isn't exactly doing itself any favors right now, so I don't blame anyone for looking for different options.

Happy gaming, indeed! 👍

@lacerz "How do you refer to multiple PS5 skus"

How do you refer to multiple PS5 skus ... in 1 word.
Smart aleck. 😉

@Titntin @GamingFan4Lyf PSN is running on Azure, so being MS-free means dropping PS, too. Switch is Android based, and MS gets royalties on Android, too. I think it's Steamdeck and iOS FTW.

@rjejr The article was right, the headline was wrong, PS5's is the possessive plural of PS5, but the sentence isn't using it as a possessive. "PS5's biggest title of the year is Helldivers 2." "Sony shipped 4.5 million PS5s last quarter." "PS5's three models represent many SKUs of PS5s."

-Grammar Nazi, OUT!

@get2sammyb
Have you seen this?
https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-bosses-reportedly-pushing-for-no-red-line-around-which-xbox-games-launch-on-playstation

@NEStalgia " The article was right, the headline was wrong "

That's what I thought, thanks.

We're going back to PS2 era. Buying the ps console for all the games, not just exclusives. Sony was losing the leading role in ps3 era so it shifted towards exclusives, now that period is gone they're happy by gaining 30% from sales of all multiplatforms by just being a best platform!

@NEStalgia Yeah I'm not going to those lengths mate, I'm using Windows on my PC and my wife just extended our family 365 cover, despite me saying we had alternates!
I wish to use them as little as possible, but as you so rightly pointed out, completely extracting myself from their products is too much of a ball ache even for my stubbornness! it was difficult enough to not renew GP, I'd been on it continuously from the start. It will be really strange if they launch some hardware though and I don't buy it - 40 years of buying everything is a hard habit to break.
Plus if Avowed is the real deal (which I hope it is for Obsidian's sake) I'll struggle to stay away from that and one of the reasons the series X is still gathering dust behind the switch dock in my house is to play that if it doesn't come to PS5.

If you really want to live life doing no harm you need to live in a yurt on an island you own. I'm only going to make the changes I can make easily, like shelling out for free range and local produce and trying to stay away from GP

@Titntin LOL, so your choice is being overridden by the CFO. You need a beer with Phil. Lots to talk about.

Yeah for all the doom and gloom, I know they're going to release at least the handheld, and a powerful console, that much seems to be in the bag. I just suspect they're going to support it shoddily. And i hear you on Avowed, I can't imagine anything Obsidian does that isn't right up my alley.

You guys were talking about PC yesterday and that lines up so well with me. I was a PC gamer for over a decades....I have both wonderful memories of it and a lot of hate. And a lot less money in my wallet. I'm teetering on the verge of shifting from XB to PC, but I'm thinking between the cost and the hassle...I both want to...and don't want to. It's a weird place to be. I went to PS, then back to Nintendo after a long leave, then added XB, somehow ended up on all 3 and vowed to never touch PC gaming again. Even got into mobile briefly before 3DS launched. Back before "mobile" meant "mobile business model." NEVER thought I'd seriously be looking at GPUs again. Ever. I thought I left Nvidia's 4 digit cryptic codes behind me for life. But like you guys....keyboards.....mice....I don't want to.... Maybe Facebook can buy Xbox and fix it lol. No...maybe that's worse....