PS4 Worldwide Sales

The fever-pitch of the PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One console war may have died down a little in the weeks following the release of both systems - especially as intriguing upcoming additions to the market like Valve's Steam machines have distracted our attention - but dedicated Sony and Microsoft fans have nonetheless been keeping a keen eye on sales.

2013 closed out with the PS4 taking an early lead, selling 4.2 million units by the end of the year compared to the 3 million Xbox Ones sold. Analysts recently predicted that this trend will continue, with the PS4 selling 33% more units than the Xbox One in 2014.

According to the latest sales reports from Sony and Microsoft, which have been summarized by CVG, the early sales of this year are already beginning to reflect the predicted pattern. Sony describes PS4 sales as remaining "incredibly strong," noting that it was number one in video games console sales in January and sold nearly double that of the nearest competitor.

Gears of War 4 Xbox One

The nearest competitor, of course, is the Xbox One, and in Microsoft's company statement the focus was all on the combined pool of Xbox 360 and Xbox One sales. Together the two platforms sold the most games across all console platforms in January, with 2.27 million units of Xbox games sold overall comprising 47% of total software sales.

Limiting the sales data to eighth generation consoles only, however, the PS4 once again takes the lead with PS4 sales ranking number one for January and eight out of the ten best-selling next-gen games selling the majority of their units on PS4. For gamers who have been having trouble finding a PS4 to buy, Sony promises that "although PS4 remains severely constrained at retail, we are working hard to refresh supply as quickly as possible,"

Sales and profit aren't totally synonymous of course; there are varying manufacturing costs to be taken into account, as well as the fact that the Xbox One sells for $500 compared to the $400 PS4. However, the number of gamers who own each console can have a significant impact upon, for example, what system undecided consumers end up choosing and whether publishers decide to release a title exclusive to the platform.

_____

Source: CVG