It has been over three years since Microsoft last released an official update on the sales performance of the Xbox One. When the decision to stop publicly releasing sales figures for the console was announced in 2015, no reason was provided. However, Microsoft has finally decided to provide the reasoning behind the action.

Earlier this week, Variety reached to Microsoft for a comment on the company’s reluctance to release sales figures for the Xbox One. A spokesperson for the company responded by stating that the technology giant had decided to shift their metric for measuring the success of their products from sales performance to consumer engagement.

The spokesperson went on further to say that the company had seen an 18% year-on-year growth in revenue within their gaming focused divisions. It was also stated that Xbox software and services sales played a significant part in this increase, with revenues for this area growing by 24% in the last year.

Some may find it very difficult to believe that Microsoft’s decision to stop releasing sales numbers was entirely motivated by a shift in focus as the surprising sales dominance of the Xbox One’s main competitor, Sony’s PlayStation 4, has been well-noted. Currently, the PlayStation 4 is estimated to have sold approximately 79 million units, with the Xbox One’s sales number estimated to be somewhere around half that figure.

Regardless of what ultimately motivated Microsoft to move away from focusing on sales figures, the company’s decision new approach should be greeted rather positively. The idea does seem to suggest that perhaps moving forward Microsoft will be focused on ensuring that there are many reasons to own and keep using Xbox and Windows devices.

In the last year alone, Microsoft has released an upgraded version of their premier console in the form of the Xbox One X, and the Netflix-style game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. The Xbox One’s backward compatible library has also been extended to include a number of new titles. With this all in mind, it will be very interesting to see any new features the company may decide to introduce next with the aim of increasing engagement. (It may just make them want to share figures.)

Source: Variety