PlayStation 4 has always outsold the Xbox One and the Wii U. A couple of days ago Sony hit another milestone when the PlayStation 4 hit the 30 million-units-sold mark.
“We are sincerely grateful that gamers across the globe have continued to choose PS4 as the best place to play since launch two years ago,” said Andrew House, President and Global CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. in an official rlease.”We are committed to bringing engaging games and entertainment services to users worldwide. Thanks to the support of our partners, PS4 continues to be the premier platform for game and interactive entertainment innovation.”
This sales milestone is an interesting one in relation to the PlayStation 2, which was a behemoth in the games market and Sony’s best-selling console. During the two years since its release, the PlayStation 4 has outpaced what the PlayStation 2 did in the same time period. So it’s possible that the PlayStation 4 is poised to beat out the PlayStation 2 in terms of units sold.
Microsoft has decided to stop using sales figures for the Xbox One as a metric for success. The last time numbers were released, the PlayStation 4 had a sizable lead. And this was largely the reason why Microsoft stopped reporting sales. The low sales figures compared to the PlayStation 4 can create a specific perception among consumers.
One thing to remember, though, is that console “cycle” can actually be used to described the ever-turning wheel. When the original Xbox launched it was the first time there were three competitors in the space. During that time, the PlayStation 2 trumped both the Nintendo GameCube and original Xbox. In the next cycle Nintendo beat out the other two with the smash success of the Wii. For that console cycle, the Xbox 360 sold more than the PlayStation 3. The introduction of the Wii U was at an odd point. It was released a year earlier than the other consoles, so it’s sort of split between two cycles. No matter how you classify the Wii U, it has sold much less than the other two consoles.
Now we’ve got the PlayStation 4 on top, Xbox One in second, and the Wii U trailing behind. Who “wins” which cycle in terms of sales is largely irrelevant because the companies seem to rotate on an ongoing basis. Who knows what will happen next? Nintendo is planning to introduce its next console early, so everything may be shaken up once again.
