PS5 Starts to Lose to Xbox Series X in Sales

When it comes to console sales, Sony has long been in the lead over its biggest competitor, Microsoft. However, it seems that situation is changing and the American giant with its Xbox is closing the gap to the Japanese rival.

Xbox Series X|S catches up with PlayStation 5

As reported by The Motley Fool, Microsoft's recent financial report shows that Xbox Series X/S are catching up in sales of the very popular PlayStation 5. During the last two fiscal quarters (including the one that just ended), Microsoft gained a lot of market share, and came out on top in April. The company's latest console thus became the sales leader in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Western Europe.

VGChartz (a website that collects data on video game sales) reports, in turn, that half a million of current-gen Xbox consoles were sold in March alone. NPD Group (which tracks US game sales data, among other things) reports that revenues from sales are higher than for PlayStation 5. For Microsoft, this is quite a success, because it is the best results in 8 years.

Xbox keeps improving

According to VGChartz, since the launch of the device through April 16 of this year, nearly 19 million PlayStation 5 units have been shipped. During this time, Xbox consoles have achieved sales of 14.2 million copies. In comparison, throughout the previous year PS5 sold almost twice as much as Xbox. There are many indications that Microsoft's device is more popular this year.

Microsoft has grown significantly in recent years when it comes to video games. This process has been accelerated by the release of the latest generation of consoles, with data showing a 33% increase in revenue. In fiscal year 2021 (which ended June 30, 2021), Microsoft recorded $15.4 billion in game revenue. This compares to $11.6 billion in the previous fiscal year.

This year, revenue from console sales alone was up 16%. In addition, it is necessary to add increase in revenue from content and services offered by Microsoft - here the company recorded 6% more. This is due to the sale of more Xbox Game Pass subscriptions and games created by in-house studios. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, profits exceeded $3 billion - this is the first time this has happened in this period.

Since the middle of last year, Microsoft has generated $12.8 billion in revenue from games alone. So the corporation is on track to deliver a strong offering. It remains to wait for its further moves.