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[MrA]

We know that PS5 is up at least 317% from last year's 128K so for the overall hardware to be up only 68% Xbox Series S/X or Switch had to have a pretty big drop-off from last year because PS5 cost more than Switch & Series S & a lot of these consoles was sold at $559 )


(I need Switch numbers from last year we have PS5 128K & Xbox Series S/X 261K )

not necessarily at around 550k ps5s at averaging say 520 usd each leaves like 210 million for switch and xbox, which is only about 10% lower than last year's 230 million, I was playing around with different average costs and the switch is probably in the 350-400k range and xbox in the 250-300k range to get more switch units but more Xbox dollars, I'd wager xbox is flat, switch is down 5 to 20%, granted these are just me playing with numbers but they fit the data

 

[Nothing1234]

i didnt know the whole year was leaked. wheres december though? it was sonys biggest month since launch so im assuming it was more than november.

Usually leaked at odd intervals by Aquamarine on Install Base so you get roughly 6 months data.

 

[Nothing1234]

This Xbox hardware decline is disastrous though. Nobody will ask Phil Spencer about it in interviews as they ask PR approved softball questions. A $299 console that has already seen massive price cuts and $499 console you seemingly can’t produce in required numbers this early into the gen is not a good look at all. How long until Microsoft run to congress about being unfairly impeded in the US by Sony?

 

[MasterCornholio]

This Xbox hardware decline is disastrous though. Nobody will ask Phil Spencer about it in interviews as they ask PR approved softball questions. A $299 console that has already seen massive price cuts and $499 console you seemingly can’t produce in required numbers this early into the gen is not a good look at all. How long until Microsoft run to congress about being unfairly impeded in the US by Sony?

They are not going to claim thet Sony manipulated their supply right?

I mean I know companies bid for things like wafers and other similar items. Hopefully they don't try to accuse Sony of using their presence in the market to get better deals. I don't believe that's whats causing the issue to be honest.

 

[Nothing1234]

They are not going to claim thet Sony manipulated their supply right?

I mean I know companies bid for things like wafers and other similar items. Hopefully they don't try to accuse Sony of using their presence in the market to get better deals. I don't believe that's whats causing the issue to be honest.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise me. Even though we know Apple have bought all the 3nm supply from TSMC. https://www.macrumors.com/2023/02/22/apple-secures-tsmc-3nm-chips/

 

[Robbinhood]

i think MS can be competitive simply by paying to win. They will buy whatever studios they want because the regulatory bodies are a joke and Congress will ensure these deals go through. They want an American company to dominate this medium the way they do with movies, music, phones etc.

Expect companies like take 2 etc to get swallowed up in the coming years.

These moves will have an effect over time, at least in US and UK. MS will spend another 50-100 bn if necessary, I truly believe that.

 

[onQ123]

not necessarily at around 550k ps5s at averaging say 520 usd each leaves like 210 million for switch and xbox, which is only about 10% lower than last year's 230 million, I was playing around with different average costs and the switch is probably in the 350-400k range and xbox in the 250-300k range to get more switch units but more Xbox dollars, I'd wager xbox is flat, switch is down 5 to 20%, granted these are just me playing with numbers but they fit the data

I forgot that Series S was selling at a lower price this year but that's still offset a little buy the $559 Xbox Series X Forza bundle that seems to be selling better than the Series S this year so I would still say that someone is down in units

 

[TheGodfather07]

given his wording I checked feb 2006 -2011, so the ceiling is just under 606k as the ps3, ps2 and psp summed up to February 2009
xbox best February was 2011(nuts if you think about it) at 535k so it probably tops that, doesn't come close to the insanity of the best wii 753k but it might come quite close to the best ds February 611k

whoa! aint nobody ever topping that in february.

We like VGChartz now ?

We like VGChartz now.

Also, good job turning Fallout 76 into Fallout 4 Heis, real subtle posting images without the actual article links.

i have to agree. shame on you Heisenberg007 for using vgchartz as a source. i dont doubt that these games did sell much more on PS4. pretty much everything did, but vgchartz isnt a good source. never has been and never will be.

 

[Three]

I wonder what the reason is for not including platform charts anymore

 

[Goalus]

They should call on their congress shills to investigate.

Why would they need to investigate? This situation of the market is exactly what they need to complete the Activision deal.

It's crystal-clear now that MS is a small underdog, and therefore should be able to acquire Take Two next.

 

[Nothing1234]

Why would they need to investigate? This situation of the market is exactly what they need to complete the Activision deal.

It's crystal-clear now that MS is a small underdog, and therefore should be able to acquire Take Two next.

Even said as a joke this is 100% the mindset of certain members.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Ps5 is absolutely dominating and could hit the 18 million?

Just absolutely amazing result.

See, Microsoft...this is the kind of sales you can get with a steady heavy hitting release schedule.

You've allowed Sony to cement themselves for another generation. Basically, giving them a free 2 year headstart.

MS got the hardware right and the subscription model right but completely fumbled on the first party AAA release schedule this gen. That's the most important part too. We'll, now it's just about riding the course, getting those wins with solid releases and looking to fix that major flaw for the future. I'm noe in the camp that it's going to probs be a 2 to 1 lead again this generation again. Of course, I wish they were all London of neck and neck as we would all win then but you gotta be able to capture the hearts and minds of the public like Sony can to pull those numbers up.

 

[Heisenberg007]

We like VGChartz now ?

We like VGChartz now.

Also, good job turning Fallout 76 into Fallout 4 Heis, real subtle posting images without the actual article links.

My bad with the Fallout one - was a genuine typo. But the point stays the same - both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 are Bethesda titles.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Basically, giving them a free 2 year headstart.

Actually Sony had some pretty bad supply issues which they fixed.

Why doesn't Microsoft want the same?

I have no idea.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Ps5 is absolutely dominating and could hit the 18 million?

Just absolutely amazing result.

See, Microsoft...this is the kind of sales you can get with a steady heavy hitting release schedule.

You've allowed Sony to cement themselves for another generation. Basically, giving them a free 2 year headstart.

MS got the hardware right and the subscription model right but completely fumbled on the first party AAA release schedule this gen. That's the most important part too. We'll, now it's just about riding the course, getting those wins with solid releases and looking to fix that major flaw for the future. I'm noe in the camp that it's going to probs be a 2 to 1 lead again this generation again. Of course, I wish they were all London of neck and neck as we would all win then but you gotta be able to capture the hearts and minds of the public like Sony can to pull those numbers up.

I'd say the opposite. Supply issues hurt Sony way more than Microsoft. In fact, supply issues were a blessing in disguise for Microsoft and allowed them to sell more in the US for 3 consecutive quarters and outsell PS5 in Japan for a couple of weeks.

If it weren't for supply issues, PS5 would have also did similar numbers in H1 2022, and the lead would be even higher. XBS never faced the same supply issues as PS5 did because Series S was almost always available so much so that they had to put it at a deep discount ($70).

 

[Panajev2001a]

MS got the hardware right

Yes and no. Being able to manufacture it cheaply enough not to make a loss years in is part of the strategy. XSX is a strong HW and a silent console yes, but PS5 / PS5 DE have devs and users a single unified target that they have been able to break even on quite early on in the generation (already made several revisions and a 6nm optimisation jump). This is part of getting the HW right IMHO. Of course, one company needs to care about its resources more while the other may have approached the leading up to the generation with expectations of being able to spend a lot more (or the base SKU was the XSS, XSX being their limited edition Pro console all along, and they just ended up misjudging demand of it based on what they provided).

and the subscription model right

Still not sold on the long term effects of it and not sure it is even delivering the results they expected.

but completely fumbled on the first party AAA release schedule this gen. That's the most important part too. We'll, now it's just about riding the course, getting those wins with solid releases and looking to fix that major flaw for the future. I'm noe in the camp that it's going to probs be a 2 to 1 lead again this generation again. Of course, I wish they were all London of neck and neck as we would all win then but you gotta be able to capture the hearts and minds of the public like Sony can to pull those numbers up.

If they were neck and neck in results (equality of outcomes) despite what each company brought to the table Sony would eventually get trounced… a good competitive market should thoroughly reward the winning product especially when you have companies or greatly different sizes competing (you could never have newcomers succeeding against incumbents especially if bigger than you and you could outcompete others just by spending moneys made in other monopolies).

 

[Woopah]

Ok, notice how when a platform stops putting out massive or impressive monthly hardware numbers, everyone starts talking about how it needs a new-gen iteration.

Or how when software sales in a top ten chart has a poor showing on any specific platform they start talking about how there should be a PS6 or switch 2...etc.

Its almost as if poor software sales or performance is attributed to hardware sales for that month, when in truth software sales is driven more by the install base of that specific platform.

So my point was that, a poor chart showing of software of any specific platform is more reflective of the lack of new `appealing` software on that specific platform than of its hardware proliferation having reached some sort of saturation point. For example, when BOTW2 is released, it will top all charts and break records.

We want the hardware to sell as many units as possible as quickly as possible. In a perfect situation, you would rather have 100M sales in 3 years of a 7-year platform, and wouldn't care if you only had 10M sales for the remaining 4 years. Because what is important is the 100M people you have to sell your games to.

Software sales are driven by install base to a large extent, but age of a platform does have an impact. At some point software peaks and declines and that's when console manufacturers need to think about replacing it.

It happened with DS and PS2 and now its happening with Switch. Not because these platforms just stopped getting appealing software but because they got old.

For the current month, both things are affecting the Switch. Last year their January game (Pokemon Legends Arceus) was a lot bigger and more apoealing than this year's January game (Fire Emblem Engage) and charted longer.

But last Feb also saw many Nintendo evergreens charting and those do depend a lot on hardware sales. Fewer new people buying your hardware means that there are fewer new people to be interested in your evergreens, so sales fall.

 

[RoboFu]

Looking for MK8…. Yep still on there! Lol. It has got to be some sort of world record by now.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

That Welfare is sipping some serious cope on REE and IBF about the Series hardware sales. Saying the low sales is only because there is no stock of Series X in US!

But I look on eBay in the UK for example, and Series X are going for way under MSRP. PS5's second-hand are actually going for close to MSRP. So I believe that is mirrored in the US and shows a quite stark difference in demand.

Estimates for Feb:

PS5 - 575k
Switch - 330K
Series - 240K

 

[Nothing1234]

Ps5 is absolutely dominating and could hit the 18 million?

Just absolutely amazing result.

See, Microsoft...this is the kind of sales you can get with a steady heavy hitting release schedule.

You've allowed Sony to cement themselves for another generation. Basically, giving them a free 2 year headstart.

MS got the hardware right and the subscription model right but completely fumbled on the first party AAA release schedule this gen. That's the most important part too. We'll, now it's just about riding the course, getting those wins with solid releases and looking to fix that major flaw for the future. I'm noe in the camp that it's going to probs be a 2 to 1 lead again this generation again. Of course, I wish they were all London of neck and neck as we would all win then but you gotta be able to capture the hearts and minds of the public like Sony can to pull those numbers up.

If anything Xbox had the headstart with Sony’s supply constraints and the readily available Series S.

 

[ToadMan]

Lol Its a new huge Bethesda game. Wierd thing to downplay....Its gonna sell like crazy obviously.

No, it won’t.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Yes and no. Being able to manufacture it cheaply enough not to make a loss years in is part of the strategy. XSX is a strong HW and a silent console yes, but PS5 / PS5 DE have devs and users a single unified target that they have been able to break even on quite early on in the generation (already made several revisions and a 6nm optimisation jump). This is part of getting the HW right IMHO. Of course, one company needs to care about its resources more while the other may have approached the leading up to the generation with expectations of being able to spend a lot more (or the base SKU was the XSS, XSX being their limited edition Pro console all along, and they just ended up misjudging demand of it based on what they provided).


Still not sold on the long term effects of it and not sure it is even delivering the results they expected.


If they were neck and neck in results (equality of outcomes) despite what each company brought to the table Sony would eventually get trounced… a good competitive market should thoroughly reward the winning product especially when you have companies or greatly different sizes competing (you could never have newcomers succeeding against incumbents especially if bigger than you and you could outcompete others just by spending moneys made in other monopolies).

I completely disagree here. We can't compare Sony and MS when it comes to hardware choices.

Sony were coming off the back of ps4 and have a massive mindshare in public opinion and internally within the wider Sony business.

Microsoft made the best play they could, they offered an excellent mid budget option with the series S which has paid off in droves compared to if they had only the series x.

Microsoft did what they thought would be the best for them and it looks to have worked, if they had the software out put this would all be a completely different conversation. Those sales of the console and subscribers to game pass would be much larger if they had the software output to go with the other 2 key pillers. I think that is glaringly obvious.

They just were not ready software wise or even with direct x 12. They dropped the ball there while their hardware and services team were on point.

 

[Alex Scott]

Is MS not producing enough Xbox because they want acquisition to go through. By having fewer Xbox, they would look weak compared to PS.

Clearly there is demand for it.

Do you gus think this is a strategy to look weak or are they having actual issues with their suply chain?

 

[Nothing1234]

Is MS not producing enough Xbox because they want acquisition to go through. By having fewer Xbox, they would look weak compared to PS.

Clearly there is demand for it.

Do you gus think this is a strategy to look weak or are they having actual issues with their suply chain?

Supply chain issues 100%. There is ample stock in the UK of Xbox Series X and S but people aren’t buying them. For the US it’s supply. They vastly overestimated the demand for the Series S so far.

Deliberately tanking a generation to get an acquisition through would be very short sighted.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Is MS not producing enough Xbox because they want acquisition to go through. By having fewer Xbox, they would look weak compared to PS.

Clearly there is demand for it.

Do you gus think this is a strategy to look weak or are they having actual issues with their suply chain?

You guys really need to leave the acquisition topics.

If you think MS is sabotaging themselves to sell less consoles because of an acquisition and appear weaker not only to the market but to their own shareholders, you're out of your minds

Somewhere during this year PS5 will probably end up with a 2:1 gap in sales from Series consoles...that's a disaster even worse than the previous generation, considering they have a sku on sale for half the price of their competitor...there's no way to sugarcoat this. It's bad and Starfield won't do any miracles...

 

[Nothing1234]

If Spider Man 2 is the same month as Starfield will Xbox even win a sales month in the US this year?

 

[nowhat]

Careful. Last time someone said that they bought 100 studios

...and still failed to deliver any first-party titles!

yeah I know they exist, or will be coming soon(ish)

 

[TheGodfather07]

Usually leaked at odd intervals by Aquamarine on Install Base so you get roughly 6 months data.

Hopefully we get the same this year. It reminds me of the old days when npd threads were live and kicking. Everybody used to look forward to it when there's actual sales numbers.

 

[jm89]

If Spider Man 2 is the same month as Starfield will Xbox even win a sales month in the US this year?

Spiderman 2 alone may guarantee that ps5 takes #1 all year.

Combined with a new ps5 revision and decently priced spidy bundle, not a chance.

 

[Nothing1234]

Hopefully we get the same this year. It reminds me of the old days when npd threads were live and kicking. Everybody used to look forward to it when there's actual sales numbers.

They are locking down more and more data now. We dont even get platform specific software charts now.

 

[Varteras]

...and still failed to deliver any first-party titles!

yeah I know they exist, or will be coming soon(ish)

 

[TheGodfather07]

If Spider Man 2 is the same month as Starfield will Xbox even win a sales month in the US this year?

Even without spider-man 2, PS5 wins every month. There's no way it doesn't if sony are aiming for a minimum of 23m next fiscal year. A good portion of that will be in the US. Ain't nobody getting close to them this year.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

If Spider Man 2 is the same month as Starfield will Xbox even win a sales month in the US this year?

Even if Spider-Man 2 doesn't come out in September, that's when the PS5 revision is released so...probably no.
It all depends if PS5 will have stock in August, right before the new sku is released.

 

[jm89]

I completely disagree here. We can't compare Sony and MS when it comes to hardware choices.

Sony were coming off the back of ps4 and have a massive mindshare in public opinion and internally within the wider Sony business.

Microsoft made the best play they could, they offered an excellent mid budget option with the series S which has paid off in droves compared to if they had only the series x.

Microsoft did what they thought would be the best for them and it looks to have worked, if they had the software out put this would all be a completely different conversation. Those sales of the console and subscribers to game pass would be much larger if they had the software output to go with the other 2 key pillers. I think that is glaringly obvious.

They just were not ready software wise or even with direct x 12. They dropped the ball there while their hardware and services team were on point.

Exclusives matter now?

I though series s + gamepass was the killer combo, isn't that what some of you where championing for months?

Getting outsold almost 2:1 on home turf in the biggest month is a disaster, no amount of propaganda posts is changing that. Saying "it looks to have worked" is staggering really.

 

[Beechos]

Wow no sight of gta v but minecraft still selling.

 

[Nothing1234]

Wow no sight of gta v but minecraft still selling.

Take 2 dont give numbers to NPD.

 

[TheGodfather07]

They are locking down more and more data now. We dont even get platform specific software charts now.

I'm assuming it's because gamepass is affecting software sales on xbox. Its a bad look if games are charting high on the PS chart and much lower on the XB chart but it's normal for xbox because Microsoft are pushing the subscription model. I haven't bought a single game on my series x. Gamepass has me covered.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

3rd parties must be making the bulk of their revenue on Playstation and PC with the Xbox install base so low.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I think GP is a good service, but PS Plus Extra delivers a lot too. You can generally play for 'free' nearly everywhere. Besides that, the biggest sellers, like Elden Ring, CoD, FIFA and RE4 just now, they need to be bought anyway.

I sort of abandoned Xbox for one simple reason; lack of exclusive games. I haven't used my Xbox in nearly a year. As a result my GPU expired and I didn't renew too. Since last year Sony released Horizon, GT7, Ragnarok, Forspoken and many more. This trend will continue this year with FFXVI in June and Xbox.. none? And ofcourse the PSVR2, which is another option for those who crave VR on console.

I simply think PS5 is the better system to buy right now. Yes MS has bought Activision and Zenimax but it will take a long time before we see the fruits of this. Meanwhile Sony delivers first party exclusives right now, and some timed exclusives as well while they also buy studios.

 

[Varteras]

If Spider Man 2 is the same month as Starfield will Xbox even win a sales month in the US this year?

Even without spider-man 2, PS5 wins every month. There's no way it doesn't if sony are aiming for a minimum of 23m next fiscal year. A good portion of that will be in the US. Ain't nobody getting close to them this year.

Until Xbox gets its supply issues straightened out, it's not going to matter. The longer that takes, the more mindshare is lost as the number of people buying PS5 instead of XBS grows. Things like that compound over time.

Even if Spider-Man 2 doesn't release in September, I still don't think Xbox wins that month. I'm sure Starfield will be great, but I think it's being grossly overestimated for its impact. Will it be a closer month than the others? Sure. That I can see.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Until Xbox gets its supply issues straightened out, it's not going to matter. The longer that takes, the more mindshare is lost as the number of people buying PS5 instead of XBS grows. Things like that compound over time.

Even if Spider-Man 2 doesn't release in September, I still don't think Xbox wins that month. I'm sure Starfield will be great, but I think it's being grossly overestimated for its impact. Will it be a closer month than the others? Sure. That I can see.

Starfield is a new IP, its also heavily dependant on reviews and possible bugs... the userbase possibly shitting on it, etc. And its playable on PC. I don't think it will really move systems to be honest.

I'd say the opposite. Supply issues hurt Sony way more than Microsoft. In fact, supply issues were a blessing in disguise for Microsoft and allowed them to sell more in the US for 3 consecutive quarters and outsell PS5 in Japan for a couple of weeks.

If it weren't for supply issues, PS5 would have also did similar numbers in H1 2022, and the lead would be even higher. XBS never faced the same supply issues as PS5 did because Series S was almost always available so much so that they had to put it at a deep discount ($70).

This is true. Sony was more heavily supply constrained and had no XSS that was readily available. I think PS5 also fetched more cash for scalpers. I've always felt the PS5 was in much more demand than the Xbox. The Xbox launched with basically nothing in terms of real exclusive next-gen software. Most Series adopters including myself were playing solely last-gen games on it. And then Halo, pushed back by more than a full year, still releases in incomplete state. MS has the hardware, but something went wrong with their software development.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

A few observations:

1. PS5 is in beast mode, I expect it to win every month in both units and revenue (except mayyyybe December) and comfortably win the year
2. Excellent legs for Dead Space, Ragnarök and the usual sport COD games. You can see how increased PS5 supply is really helping push sales for those games. Forespoken dropped surprisingly little
3. Conversely, you can see how the slowing down of Switch hardware is impacting software. This is the lowest amount of Nintendo games in the top 10 / top 20 than I can remember for a long long time. Nintendo not sharing digital (especially with vouchers now back) means that I think they will stop being a major presence on these charts like they used to be.
4. I was not expecting Theatrythm to chart at all so its nice its on here.
5. The fact we won't get platform specific charts any more is highly disappointing

The original Octopath charted at number 1 for the month just with physical. For OT2 to be on more platforms and include digital but only be at 10 means I don't think it did particularly well. Its okay.

What happens in December?

 

[jufonuk]

I am betting the switch will outsell the PS2. But the PS5 looks like it might outsell the switch.

The circle of life
I would love it if the switch took the record. No matter how short lived.

I’m guessing/betting with the new ToTK OLED switch there will be a significant sales amount

 

[Varteras]

What happens in December?

 

[nowhat]

Starfield is a new IP, its also heavily dependant on reviews and possible bugs...

Hey, it's Bethesda. Bugs are not only possible but given.

 

[jm89]

What happens in December?

Switch normally goes beast mode. Although considering switch sales are dwindling this year, will have to say if that is the case this December.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Supply chain issues 100%. There is ample stock in the UK of Xbox Series X and S but people aren’t buying them. For the US it’s supply. They vastly overestimated the demand for the Series S so far.

Deliberately tanking a generation to get an acquisition through would be very short sighted.

A 69 billion dollar acquisition, the largest in gaming history and over w0 times more than what they lost in the red light ring fiasco.

I don't think they would purposefully do something so extreme but I could see them under shipping for s quarter or a half to help highlight their case. That would be a shit ring to do though.

 

[Sanepar]

Ps5 is absolutely dominating and could hit the 18 million?

Just absolutely amazing result.

See, Microsoft...this is the kind of sales you can get with a steady heavy hitting release schedule.

You've allowed Sony to cement themselves for another generation. Basically, giving them a free 2 year headstart.

MS got the hardware right and the subscription model right but completely fumbled on the first party AAA release schedule this gen. That's the most important part too. We'll, now it's just about riding the course, getting those wins with solid releases and looking to fix that major flaw for the future. I'm noe in the camp that it's going to probs be a 2 to 1 lead again this generation again. Of course, I wish they were all London of neck and neck as we would all win then but you gotta be able to capture the hearts and minds of the public like Sony can to pull those numbers up.

A steady heavy hitting release schedule of games the audience outside xbox fans want to play: Great AAA SP Narrative Games
Until they resist to offer that with a good flow they won't get market share.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Never saw Xbox Series getting outsold in it's strongest market month after month by old ass Switch.

Thought Switch would be flatlining by now too but it chuggs along.

I know. I think the problem mostly lies in the lack of genuine exclusives which the Switch has plenty of. Not helping that the PS5 and the XSX/XSS are essentially identical excluding a few exclusives on the PS5 which is most likely the reason it’s selling considerably better then the XBOX. They probably figure, I got a PS5 and the XBOX is basically the same console. Might as well get the Switch.

 

[Physiognomonics]

i think MS can be competitive simply by paying to win. They will buy whatever studios they want because the regulatory bodies are a joke and Congress will ensure these deals go through. They want an American company to dominate this medium the way they do with movies, music, phones etc.

Expect companies like take 2 etc to get swallowed up in the coming years.

These moves will have an effect over time, at least in US and UK. MS will spend another 50-100 bn if necessary, I truly believe that.

So they get to win simply because of money, politics and corruption? And people expect quality games from that publisher? that's not how it works. That's not how it works for everything really. The usual outcome of such "success" is mediocrity.