The launch of next-generation consoles in late 2020 has seemingly reignited the console wars between PlayStation and Xbox. It's a much friendlier style of console war than in decades past, but there's still a healthy competition. Sony understandably has the advantage, given it's carrying over PlayStation 4 momentum to the PlayStation 5. However, the Xbox Series X/S are well-position compared to the Xbox One. As evidence of that, Xbox won January's console sales in the United Kingdom.
GamesIndustry.biz head Christopher Dring reported the news on Twitter, saying the Xbox Series X/S was the best-selling console of January 2021. His comment suggests the number includes sales of both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. This would be the first month that Xbox's new console has won the sales totals, as it did not lead in either November or December 2020.
November 2020 was dominated by PlayStation 5, while December was won by the Nintendo Switch, according to Dring. The rotation raises as many questions as it answers, but overall the situation points to a simple explanation. The UK console market is likely restrained as much or more than the US and Japanese markets for new consoles. Availability probably plays a part in determining which consoles are winning the total sales numbers each month. As such, Xbox possibly managed to supply more Xbox Series X/S consoles than its competitors did with their own consoles.
How Xbox may have managed to increase the supply of consoles in the UK to the point that it's outselling both Sony and Nintendo is an intriguing question on its own. It could mean that Xbox is targeting the UK region more, or it could mean that Xbox has raised its manufacturing overall. It could also mean nothing, with Xbox's advantages being a fluke tied to fluctuating console shipping as more Xbox Series X/S consoles arrived while PS5s and Switches were still on cargo ships.
Regardless of the reason, the achievement is still impressive for the recently released next-gen console. The UK remains a very high-potential market for Xbox given past trends. For example, the Xbox One outsold both the PS4 and the Nintendo Switch over Black Friday in 2019. If there's a market where Xbox can keep up with or even overtake the PS5 in, it would probably be the UK.
Whether or not Xbox can manage this achievement again remains to be seen, but the Xbox team should celebrate the moment nevertheless.
The Xbox Series X/S is available now.