Just a quickie this morning. I read an article this morning asking if the Xbox One was in trouble. I didn’t realize that this was an issue, so I did a check in on current sales of the PS4, WiiU, and Xbox One:
– PS4: 5.85 million consoles
– Xbox One: 3.54 million consoles
– WiiU: 5.78 million consoles
Data from Vgchatrtz
And PS4 is the early leader. Pretty sure I called that one a few months ago…but then, who didn’t?
Anyway, with 3.5 million consoles moved, I wouldn’t think the Xbox One is in trouble, but I did some more digging and found this:
– WiiU: 3.06 million consoles as of 12/31/2012
The WiiU launched in November of 2012 in most regions, so that’s about a month and a half of sales. We all know the story since. Hype and freshness will move consoles out of the gate, it’s what happens once that wears off that tells the real story. In the three months following that WiiU figure, it only moved around .4 million. Notice the decimal point there. Hype wore off kind of fast, I guess.
At the end of 2013, Microsoft had moved approximately 3 million consoles since launch. Nothing to sneeze at. In late January, the number was up to 3.9 million (calling into question either the age of the data I started with or Microsoft’s number rounding abilities). Assuming the .9 million figure is accurate for January, that’s not bad, except that the PS4 was reportedly at 5.3 million consoles sold just a couple of weeks later. By most estimates, as of right now, the PS4 has a 2 million console sales lead. It is still very early in this generation, but that’s quite a lead to have.
Still, is the Xbox One in trouble? I think it’s far too early to be making that claim. It’s still quickly gaining on the WiiU (come on Mario Kart!) and is definitely keeping itself in the game with sales. On top of that, the much hyped Titanfall will be launching this week. Granted, Infamous: Second Son is coming right on its heels for the PS4, but regardless of that, Titanfall will move some consoles quickly, if what I’m reading is to be believed. Also, don’t forget that third parties will be putting their games on both the PS4 and Xbox One most of the time, so they will be on equal footing in that regard (and something that will continue to plague the WiiU).
The bottom line as I see it is that PS4 was always going to win this generation. It was put into motion at the Xbox One reveal and cemented at Sony’s E3 Press Conference. Microsoft peed in their own cereal and are paying for it now. I want to keep Nintendo in this conversation, but we all know the story there. Mario Kart and Smash Brothers will write their story in a few months. So, is the Xbox One in trouble? No, not at all. But if the PS4 continues to outpace them, they could be. At the current prices, owning both isn’t a true option for most consumers, so they have to really push back. Not only against the PS4, but against their own missteps that, while old news, are still fresh in everyone’s memories.
Brandon Nicholson is a blogger for TMRzoo.com and the founder of Just Another Video Game Blog and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3 and PS4, Microsoft XBOX One and XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Brandon provides his readers with reviews, previews, release dates and up to date gaming industry news, trailers and rumors.
