The buttoned-up folks over at the Wall Street Journal recently published a report on the current state of console gaming (thanks PSLS) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the PS5 has a commanding lead over its main rival, the Xbox Series X|S. The situation looks completely insurmountable for Microsoft at this point and unlikely to change, regardless of how many rakes Sony continues to step on. Nintendo, meanwhile, is off daydreaming again while unconsciously printing money, essentially in a league of its own.
Microsoft remains famously tight-lipped about Xbox sales figures, but WSJ had access to market intelligence firm Aldora Intelligence to come up with the numbers. As we enter the fifth year of the current console generation, Sony has sold 61.7 million PS5s as of June 2024. Microsoft has moved approximately 28.3 million Xbox Series X|S's, which the folks over at TweakTown put at a rate of almost 3:1, outpacing the lead gained during the PS4 and Xbox One era. With the contentious PS5 Pro on the horizon, this rate will only increase, although at what pace remains to be seen.
Looking at those stark little graphs, it is little wonder Microsoft is trying for a paradigm shift or to "redefine gaming", as WSJ puts it. As far as we know, the plan now is to keep generating revenue through subscriptions, and catering to what was formerly seen as competitors' platforms where possible.