PS4 Dominated Xbox Consoles This Spring

Sony and Microsoft have a lot to be happy about, as both companies have announced some healthy sales numbers for the past quarter. As far as individual success is concerned, though, the PlayStation 4 continues to outpace its most direct competitor, the Xbox One, by a healthy margin.

Both Microsoft and Sony recently released their most current performance records, highlighting solid sales for current gen consoles worldwide. These reports cover the spring quarter, April to June, where the PlayStation 4 reportedly doubled the sales of Xbox consoles during that time.

You sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that I said “Xbox consoles,” as opposed to just the Xbox One. That’s because Microsoft’s report includes both the Xbox One and its predecessor, the Xbox 360, according to a rundown from Gamespot. Sony, on the other hand, separated its sales records for the PlayStation 4.

Despite that fact, Sony’s figures continue to dominate those being reported by Microsoft. The Xbox One and Xbox 360 sold 1.4 million units during the spring quarter, whereas the PlayStation 4 doubled that figure with 3 million units being sold during the same timeframe.

This will likely provide plenty of fodder for folks who still like to champion one company over the other but, for the rest of us, this news translates to a very simple message: Console gaming is still healthy and, in many regards, performing better than it ever has.

In its report, Microsoft attributed high sales figures to the recently lowered price point, which resulted in a 10 percent growth for the Xbox platform. As for Sony, these most recent spring sales figures account for a growth of .3 million units sold in comparison to the previous year, which has in turn encouraged Sony to bump up its estimate for the financial year ending in March 2016. Sony originally expected to hit 16 million units by next March, but has since increased that figure to 16.5 million.

Compared to the previous generation, both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 continue to outperform their last gen counterparts, which is great news for folks who enjoy playing games and, you know, plan to continue doing so.

What’s most interesting to me, however, is that both Microsoft and Sony continue to push out these numbers without the deluge of AAA exclusives that typically start popping up two years into a new console generation. That’s not to say there aren’t the occasional mega-hits but, at this point, series like Gears of War, Uncharted, Halo, God of War and the like haven’t even made an appearance yet.

This, to me, is a great sign. Both platforms have a far more robust indie scene than ever before, as well as more ways to use your consoles than just playing games. People are buying consoles for reasons other than tent pole exclusives, which is a good omen for the years, and hopefully generations, to come.