Microsoft has finally revealed the huge sales gap between the Xbox One and PS4 consoles.
While you may have been under the impression that the PS4 was outselling the Xbox One, Microsoft has always kept quiet about its console sales numbers. Now, though, the company has finally revealed the disparity, and it's not pretty.
Microsoft admits that the PS4 sold almost twice as much as the Xbox One. The tech giant has filed a document with Brazil's national competition regulator. The key to remember here, translated from Portuguese, is:
"Sony has overtaken Microsoft in terms of console sales and installed base, having sold more than twice as many Xboxes in the last generation," Microsoft says according to Game Luster's translation.
Microsoft has not yet revealed the exact number of Xbox One consoles sold. However, the latest figure reported by Sony for PS4 console sales is around 117,2 million. If Microsoft sold half that number, we're looking at around 58,6 million Xbox One consoles, or even less.
An unshakable reputation
There are several reasons for Xbox One's relatively poor sales performance. On the one hand, you might remember the console's disastrous marketing approach to launch: the console was initially set to require an online connection at all times, and all physical games installed on your Xbox One would be related to your console and your console. Single.
This was a scheme that would have effectively rendered the disks unusable after the initial installation. It was an attempt to eliminate the used market for Xbox One games, but Xbox fans were dismayed by the move. It was a shocking mistake from Microsoft and Sony was more than happy to make fun of it. Remember the infamous PS4 game sharing tutorial (Opens in a new tab)?
Moments like that, and Microsoft's early focus on pushing the Kinect motion camera, initially hampered Xbox One's mass appeal. Thankfully, a day one patch removed the always-online requirement for the console, but the damage has already been done. it was done.
It may have stumbled on hard, but Microsoft has finally turned the Xbox One into a console worth buying. Many of the best Xbox One games still have impressive Metacritic review score averages. And the introduction of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service has given the console a very strong unique selling point against the competition.
Just as the failure of the Wii U influenced the development of the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One laid the vital foundation for the Xbox Series X|S consoles. Microsoft's current generation powerhouses are much more consumer friendly. They still offer Game Pass as a key service and include awesome quality of life features like Smart Delivery and the wonderful Quick Resume.