The console wars between Microsoft and Sony have been going on since the early 2000s with the release of the original Xbox and the PlayStation 2. The two console manufacturers have been contesting each other over the years for control of the video game console market, though it appears that Xbox has PlayStation beat in one region of the world especially.
In terms of sales figures, the PlayStation 2 is the highest-selling video game console of all time, but when the original Xbox entered the fray with Halo and a bunch of successful third-party titles, it immediately led to competition between the two. Ever since then, the Xbox and PlayStation have been struggling to outdo the other. However, in terms of the market share, there's one clear winner: Sony.
According to a recently released study by GamingSmart, the PS5 currently owns over 65 percent of the video game console market share, whereas the Xbox Series X/S hold a little under 35 percent. However, in the United States, Xbox holds the majority of the market share with 50.18 percent of the gaming populace owning a Series X/S, compared to just 49.8 percent of people owning a PS5, barely beating out Sony in the US.
The fact that Xbox is performing so well in the United States could be attributed to the fact that Microsoft is an American publisher, and thus is a more recognizable brand compared to Sony. Perhaps Xbox is just a more widely known console in the US than it is in other regions of the world.
Reportedly, Xbox is doing much better following the launch of the Xbox Series X/S. Back in 2018, the Xbox One held less than 30 percent of the overall gaming console market. In the years to follow, that percentage would gradually start to rise to the point where the Xbox Series X/S currently accounts for a little less than 35 percent of the overall gaming market. It's clear that Xbox is growing, but that could simply be due to the recent launch of the Xbox Series X/S.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds in terms of the Xbox Series X/S. With Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, along with a multitude of other game studios under the company's banner, it's clear a lot of exciting stuff is in the works. While Xbox is more popular than PlayStation in the US, only time will tell if it will be able to catch up to PlayStation in terms of the worldwide market share.
Source: GamingSmart