There's no denying that the PS4 dominated the Xbox One this console generation in terms of sales. And Nintendo is riding high off the success of the Nintendo Switch, which has quickly become one of the fastest-selling video game consoles of all time. Despite this, however, Xbox has been named one of the top 100 brands in the world, with Sony and Nintendo not appearing on the list at all.

This ranking of the top 100 brands was put together by WPP’s research arm Kantar. Dubbed the BrandZ rankings, this list has been put together annually since 2006. Every year, the top 100 brands are ranked by calculating "the value that brand contributes to businesses," according to Financial Times. The BrandZ rankings accomplish this by "combining financial and market data" with around 4 million consumer surveys of people living in 51 countries worldwide.

On this year's list, Xbox was ranked as the 87th most-valuable brand in the world. It's the only strictly-gaming brand on the list, though Microsoft itself has been named the fourth most-valuable brand. The top 10 also includes Amazon (which took the top spot), Apple, Google, and Tencent, all of which are at least somewhat involved in the gaming industry.

xbox named more valuable brand than sony and nintendo

Considering the success of Xbox's competitors, some may be wondering why it made it on the list of the top 100 brands and Sony and Nintendo didn't. There's no answer given in the report, but we can speculate as to the reasons why. One big possibility could be Xbox's leveraging of cloud technology for its future tech, with Microsoft Azure even powering the PS5's cloud gaming services.

Another possibility could be the significant cash Xbox generates through its various subscription services. Xbox Live Gold, Game Pass, and the new Game Pass Ultimate all go a long way in bolstering the Xbox brand's bottom line. And with Microsoft more aggressively supporting Game Pass than ever before, it seems likely that the company will only get more monthly subscribers moving forward.

Xbox has also talked more about its next-generation console than any other company, revealing some specific Project Scarlett details at E3 2019. Whether or not that played a role in the position of the brand's ranking is anyone's guess, but it's nonetheless interesting that Xbox was named as the 87th most-valuable brand in the world whereas its competitors didn't make the cut at all.

Source: Financial Times