PS4 and Xbox One vs PS3 and Xbox 360 - Aligned Sales Comparison - November 2015 Update

VGChartz' William D'Angelo writes: "The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in their first 25 months sold a combined 31.02 million units, while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have sold a combined 48.67 million units.

The PlayStation 4 by itself has now sold more than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined during the same amount of time. The PlayStation 4 leads by 479,629 units."

[YinYangGaming]

PS4 higher than 360 & ps3 combined in their first 25 months... My God PS4 is selling crazy well!

[DarkOcelet]

Cant stop dat Beast!

[CartBlanche]

Greatest line up they said. Everyone wants Backwards Compatibility they said. What's left DX12(won't help) and Windows 10 everywhere (maybe).
Other than Halo 5, everything else hasn't really helped sell X1 consoles or helped Microsoft get a decent foothold in the 2 regions they used to own, namely US/UK, this holiday season.

The only other franchise that might shift consoles, upon its release next year, is Gears . Quantum Break is an unknown franchise so is unlikely to shift X1 consoles unless it turns out to be Game of the Year, or Game of this Generation when it is released. Scalebound also another totally new IP, so again an unknown quantity or quality.

Fact is Microsoft have a hard road ahead. I still think this is the last console generation for Microsoft. After coming 3rd or 2nd for 2 generations in a row, it must be hard for the Xbox team to stay motivated when they are clearly 2nd right now. At the end of the day Microsoft want to make money and want to be No. 1. If by 2017 PS4 is selling 3:1 or 4:1 world wide (it is already nearly 2:1 worldwide) compared to Xbox One, do you really think the powers that be in Microsoft will throw money at the Xbox One division for another console generation?? Where is the business sense in that, regardless of what Phil says? If they don't gain ground in the next 2 years, they will drop Xbox. Microsoft will go back to software/3rd Party publishing (they are already doing that with the Minecraft franchise) and maybe Sony will Let Halo, Gears onto their PS5 platform, because it makes business sense to welcome those fans onto their platform. Forza on the other hand, they don't need.

Time will tell if my prediction is right.

[vinniects]

do you really believe what you just wrote. Yes ps4 is the big sales leader, but i think xbox has more than a decent foothold in the us/uk, and xbox is making money for microsoft. I dont think you have to concern yourself if there is a next xbox or not

[star_lancer]

"If by 2017 PS4 is selling 3:1 or 4:1 world wide (it is already nearly 2:1 worldwide)"

That's some wishful thinking right there. Right now, it's around 1.8:1, as PS4 is around 31 million and Xbox One is around 17 million.

In order for just a 3:1 margin, Sony would have to sell 29 million more PS4's to reach 60 million, while MS would sell only 3 million Xbox One's in the same timeframe to reach 20 million. Even in N4G fantasy world that's impossible.

As far as 4:1, do you really believe that Sony can reach 80 to 100 million at the same time MS is at 20 or 25 million? That's some serious dreaming right there.

PS4 will remain on top, but I'd be surprised if Sony can even regain the 2:1 margin they use to have.

[InTheLab]

You can't be serious. Just because they are not crushing it like the ps4 does not mean they've failed. The X1 was dead 3 months after launch and clawed it's way back from mediocrity. 17m in sales is pretty damn good considering the negative press, pricing, Kinect forcing, and general evil leadership...

Being in second isn't a bad thing. There's room for both and the X1 isn't going anywhere. Besides, it might do a ps3 and surprise everyone if they keep pushing new IPs.

There will be another Xbox...

[CartBlanche]

@all I'm not saying Microsoft have *failed*, as they are doing better than last gen, but I am saying that from a purely business perspective they won't invest more in consoles after not coming out on top, 3 generations in a row. Microsoft will still be part of console gaming, but as a publisher, not a hardware vendor.

As I said, the above are just my wild predictions (call me Pachter 2.0 :p) , I know, so time will tell if I'm way off or not.

Incidentally I own both consoles. Look up my PSN and XBLive name :)

[Riseer]

@ Star_Lancer You do understand that VGchartz is over tracking Xone and under tacking Ps4 right? It is something like 2-1 and i believe when the ps4 heavy hitters release Uncharted 4,Shenmue 3,Street figher 5,Racket and Clank,Horizon Zero dawn,The Last guardian you may just see a 2.5-3.0-1.0 ratio.

[kduplessis07]

Lol its the fastest selling xbox in history yes there losing to the ps4 but there doing fine.

[robo79]

I don't understand why something has to be number one to be successful?

Why have multiple company's making products? there is no point if there are not number one

Who needs choice

Competition moves things forwards. Its a good thing. Why do you want only one console to choice from?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Don't need time to tell if your prediction is right or not. You need to take a step back.

[NeoGamer232]

Some facts.

XB1 is outselling X360 worldwide by about 4 million consoles at the same time in the life cycle. And X360 had a year without any competition. XB1 has faired better even though the marketing at launch was horrible and it faced direct competition from the very start.

Wii sold 36 million consoles by the same time in the life cycle last generation. So, while people brag about PS4 sales (and VGC conveniently forgets about the Wii) the reality is that is not the fast selling console ever. And we all know how well Wii did later in the cycle last generation.

Wii is at 105 million and both X360 and PS3 are around 85-86 million. So, a strong start to the generation does not mean a long term win. Wii has pretty much been forgotten about, but X360 and PS3 kept selling strong for years after Wii died.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Long term strategy suggests a Consolesnd PC hardware approach with a unified storefront and unified OS. I think Xbox is far from dead.

[skratchy]

Xbox doesn't sell well in the UK either. Don't kid yourself. It's mostly Americans that buy it. There is no real draw. Just Halo and Forza. Next year could be interesting though, I admit.

[mcstorm]

So the Xbox one has sold 17.174.630 consoles and the ps4 is on 31,496,906 not bad numbers by both consoles.

We are only 2 years into this cycle and it looks like console gaming is as big as ever and if you go at this rate they have been at over 5 year the xbox one will see 43 million and the ps4 will be at 78 million but its normally the 3rd year of sales the consoles pickup so Ide expect the ps4 to break 90 million and the xbox one to break 60 million in 5 years and if they both do that its a great feet by both company's but I think both the ps4 and xbox one will outsell the previous consoles come the end of this gen.

[Loktai]

I wouldn't use exact numbers from vgchartz. They are known to be under tracking ps4 if not also over tracking xbox, they end up way behind every time Sony releases actual numbers.

[LordMaim]

@Loktai: Not to mention that Microsoft doesn't release sales numbers any more.

[mcstorm]

Love how I have 5 disagrees for putting the numbers of each console and do people not think gaming is not in a good place. Love N4G some times I'm sure people just hit disagree for the sake of it.

@Loktai I know they are not fully right but they wont be millions out on both and still good from both consoles as we know from NPD ect numbers the Xbox one is outselling the 360 in its life and the PS4 is selling better than anything on the market.

[AndrewLB]

They should do a similar comparison but using actual game sales. Because that's what truly matters since that's where the money is.

[SpinalRemains138]

If it were about the money, then you'd have a point.

We are gamers. Their money means nothing to us. We strive to have our machine of choice sell the most so that it gets the best developer support.

[UncleJerry]

Well, let me just push all the fanboy boners out of the way real quick.......

This shows to me that our industry is growing. If Xbox one sold 1 console and ps4 sold 200 million, the console market as a whole would still be bigger. So, consoles are not doomed, and there is money to be made.

If anything, I bet continued market growth will likely push MS to stick around. Let's face it...X1 may have failed to overcome Sony, but it still didn't "fail" on the whole. The fact that Sony can sell at such record pace and at the same time X1 can still outpace X360...that's gotta tell you something.

BTW, when "next-gen" comes around, I think the fickle nature of gamers (and millennial consumers in general) will mean that the "title" will be once again up for grabs. MS is learning a lot and the new direction of the division as a whole shows that the future is likely bright (at least more so than the past as far as x1 is concerned).

So people, I urge you, come together, game, be happy that our industry as a whole is continuing to grow and be excited for what the future holds regardless of platform.

Oh, and yes, to be fair, the ps4 sales numbers are impressive.

[MasterCornholio]

Wow that's incredible for the PS4.

Grain of salt.

[Bigpappy]

Lots and lots of VGchartz sales article. Almost on a daily basic. Had no idea the stats were updated so often.

[Kribwalker]

Lots of charts, but they aren't accurate

[Bigpappy]

That doesn't matter. It is showing PS4 dominating the sales so that gets some people very excited. Hence we must get a submission that PS4 is dominating sale every day. The actual numbers is irrelevant. This is a my console is winning statement. This is for the kids fighting the console war for Sony and MicroSoft.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Not that i care,but sounds like you and others last gen during NPD articles.

What has changed your view now?

[Why o why]

Poor sport Big P.

Ill never laud vg chartz regardless of whos on top. Like many have stated, theres enough official data to go off from sony at least. No need to go into a vg chartz article just to whinge. You was a lot calmer last gen, I dont remember you being so peeved, what gives........lol

[UltraNova]

"The PlayStation 4 by itself has now sold more than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined during the same amount of time. The PlayStation 4 leads by 479,629 units."

Want some salt to go with that?

[OB1Biker]

Yea numbers are silly : 'PlayStation 4 leads by 479,629 units.". Lol seriously XD
But I don't agree it's not only about kids 'fighting the console war'. That is more for skewed exclusive games lists fanboys throw at one another or saying their games are better than the other. I didn't actually realise PS4 was selling more than PS3 and Xbox 360 combined and it's interesting to know.

[JackStraw]

why are you mad that people are appreciative of a great console doing great?...

[ThePope]

Its not about being mad at a great console doing great. Its the fact that people think its the whole point. Anytime a new game (or cool feature/positive article/etc)comes out on the X1 for example the immediate response is "oh well it wont help them beat the PS4 because its selling way more".

Ok while that's undeniable, what does that get you? Instead of being salty (which that 100% is what that is) you could just say; "man that would be cool to play", or "I gotta get an X1"

That goes the other way too. When a cool game launches on the PS4 instead of pointing out a flaw, get a PS4, or at the very least appreciate what it is and lobby for something like that to come to the X1.

[JackStraw]

^but people do that with EVERYTHING. there will always be people like that, you and i, and everyone else on here, all understand that. so why even get mad?

[ThePope]

Let me give you an example of why people get mad (this is just one example and works both ways)

N4G has had several articles about how RoTR is doing sales wise. The comment sections are full of people claiming its a flop. Here's the issue; they don't have any idea what they're talking about for several reasons:

- They don't actually know the total physical sales
- They also don't know the sales predictions/expectations
- They have ZERO idea as to the digital sales

So with out this info (which all of it is 100% KEY to making that statement) people who most likely don't know business let alone the videogame business make claims that its "a flop". That bothers people. Especially when the only reason they are making said claim is that its not on the PS4.

[JackStraw]

so people get mad because... other people don't know what they're talking about? what?

[WelkinCole]

We don't need Vcharts to tell us that the PS4 is dominating the competition.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Wallstreet,

He'll tell you that it's still a great device.and that he speaks to it everyday.

Never mind the fact that it has not been used for any core game to matter for core gamers.even though Microsoft has billions and is concentrating on making exclusives and supports it's tech.and that Sony supposedly abandons its tech.

Sales show that PS4 is worth buying and hopefully that leads gamers to continue buying games and supporting VR.

[ScaReCrow90]

VR support is yet to be seen. Once its in the hand of the gamers then we will see what happens

The pricing on release can make it or break it.

[marioJP87]

PS4 ain't to be played with!
Catch up or go home!

[TheLyonKing]

Ironically that's exactly what the playstation is meant for

[yeahright2]

So what do you mean by "played with"? as in don't play games on PS4 or don't mess with PS4?
Also, are you saying xbox needs to catch up in sales or that PS4 players need to catch up to xboxer's way of thinking, i.e. playing games on xbox is better.

In short: are you saying "booo", or "boourns"?

[marioJP87]

I'm saying PS4 can't be touched ... which is proven.
I'm saying, "Xbox One, catch up to PS4 in sales or go home". (Though X1 is selling OK)

[WarPuppet96]

In my house the sales are the same, ps4 3 and Xbox one 3 but the games are different story.

[Fro_xoxo]

^_^

[ScaReCrow90]

Same with mine.
2 Xbox ones and 2 ps4

Again games are a different story.
PlayStation mainly sees multiplats.
Xbox sees exclusives. so far.

Next year could change.

[MasterCornholio]

In my house I own 1 PS3, 1 PS4, 1 Vita , 1 2DS and 1 3DS.

So in the end 3/5 of systems are PlayStation's and 2/5 are Portable Nintendo Handhelds. Might end up 50% each if the NX is compelling enough.

P.S Despite what Sony says I'm not counting PSVR as a platform its just an accessory to me.

P.S.S Yes I'm a gamer who loves Japanese systems. But I did give Microsoft a chance with the Xbox 360.

[yeahright2]

I think all that new platform talk is just to try and reduce the sticker shock. I mean in terms of it being an accessory vs a new platform how is it different than the Kinect? If you bought a Kinect game but didn't have a Kinect you couldn't play it. You can't just buy a Kinect without the console and play Kinect games. I guess there were some games that were "better with Kinect" but didn't require the device and that may not be the case with PSVR, but that's a thin argument at best.

[WarPuppet96]

Me too but I only mentioned them because they always argue over every little thing on here lol, I have two wii u's and vita 3ds's and some retro systems and an Alienware gaming rig I got last fall.

[Ken85]

Really happy to see that consoles are still selling like hotcakes. Hell, they're almost selling better than ever! Hope this means we have plenty more generations of them to come.

[DivineAssault]

Glad the market is still going strong despite the growing numbers of mobile gaming..

[Clarence]

PS4 is a beast.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The PlayStation 4 by itself has now sold more than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined during the same amount of time

I can't even wrap my head around that.

[2pacalypsenow]

Don't Underestimate the Power of PlayStation

[DrumBeat]

Sony really hit the right notes with PS4.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

PS4 is a beast comments are guaranteed at least 1 bubble.

[Fist4achin]

I'm just glad great games are continuing. Now I just need to pick up one of the newer consoles. Darn backlog

[PhoenixUp]

What's even more impressive is that by the end of 2015, PS4 would've sold more in two years than what either PS3(33.71 million) and 360(28 millon) sold in three years,