In November 2020, Sony and Microsoft unveiled a new generation of gaming consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S respectively, piquing the interest of gamers around the world. However, after 29 months of fierce rivalry, the sales gap between the two systems has widened. According to the latest data from the VGChartz website, the PS5’s global sales have reached 35.94 million units as of March 2023, while the Xbox Series X|S has only 21.35 million units, a gap of 14.59 million units. The PS5 has 62.7% of the market, while the Xbox Series X|S has 37.3%.
The VGChartz website is a professional gaming data research platform that produces monthly sales comparison reports for various gaming hardware and software. Their latest research compares PS5 and Xbox Series X|S sales since their respective launches. According to the research, the PS5 is outperforming the Xbox Series X|S in large areas such as North America, Europe and Japan, while the Xbox Series X|S S has a slight lead in other regions. The study compared sales of the two systems to the previous generation of consoles. According to the findings, the PS5 is currently 2.87 million units behind the PS4, while the Xbox Series X|S is 950,000 units ahead of the Xbox One.
Why is the PS5 beating the Xbox Series X|S so easily? According to industry insiders, this is mainly due to the following factors:
- The PS5 has more unique and high-quality titles, which attracts more players;
- The PS5 has various advantages in terms of design, performance, compatibility and so on;
- The PS5 has improved its marketing and channel distribution efforts, increasing brand influence and availability;
- The PS5 has a strong presence in key regions such as Japan and Europe. The larger user base and loyalty have resulted in a positive word-of-mouth effect.
That’s not to say that the Xbox series X|S is without merit or potential. Microsoft continues to develop and reinvent its console devices and has introduced new services and features such as Xbox Gaming Pass, cloud gaming, backwards compatibility and so on. In addition, Microsoft has acquired a number of well-known game developers and IPs that will bring many highlights to the future games line-up. As a result, the Xbox Series X|S has the potential to close the gap with the PS5 or perhaps even surpass it in the future.