Xbox One And PS4 Sales Figures Beating The Previous Gen By 40 Percent

Hooray, console sales figures time! The latest figures suggest the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One combined have sold 40% more than they did at this point last generation, which is around 23 months since launch. There’s a lot of naysaying about the Xbox One, but in terms of the numbers of units shifted, Microsoft’s console still isn’t too far shy of the Xbox 360’s success.


You probably expect Sony and Microsoft would be first to admit surprise over these figures. Both probably assumed like most did that this generation of consoles would see its user base shrink. There’s still plenty of time for that to happen of course - the total combined 8th gen console sales is still way, way short of the 264 million achieved by the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii last generation. The figures come from US market analyst NPD Group, who estimate “after 23 months on the market, combined PS4 and Xbox One sales are 40 percent higher than the combined 23 month totals for PS3 and 360.” It’s not bad going either, particularly when considering Sony really hasn’t hit it its stride yet for the PlayStation 4. This is a strong Christmas for Xbox One and we’re likely to see this in hefty sales figures. The 1-2-3 punches of Forza Motorsport 6, Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider makes for a tempting proposition.

What does it mean? I don’t know. Does anyone know? I don’t know. All we know is both consoles are exceeding how well they were doing this time last generation. Part of the reason is undoubtedly the insane 8-year lifespan of the previous gen - console gamers had been waiting yonks for a new gen and the take up was quick. Whether they can sustain this in form over the next few years remains to be seen. The fact remains the market is in a real state of flux. The current crop of consoles didn’t offer the loss-leading, PC-beating performance we’ve come to expect from console launches, so they’re already outshone by comparatively priced PCs.