In 2013, sales of Sony’s new PlayStation 4 video game console crushed Xbox One sales by a wide margin, even when accounting for the fact that the PS4 was available for an additional week in November. Sony moved 4.2 million PS4 consoles in 2013 while Microsoft’s sales through the end of the year totaled 3 million units. 2014 is a new year, however, and January sales were eagerly anticipated as industry watchers look for clues on how this new round of the everlasting console war is going. According to NPD Group’s January numbers for U.S. console sales, not much has changed for Microsoft since last year. In fact, Sony’s margin of victory looks like it has widened.
Market research firm NPD Group on Thursday evening shared its video game sales tally, as it does each month. According to the figures, Sony sold almost twice as many PlayStation 4 consoles in the U.S. (244,000) as Microsoft sold Xbox One consoles (143,000).
Sony’s SVP of marketing for the PlayStation group wasn’t shy in sharing his elation.
“Demand for PlayStation 4 remains incredibly strong as it was No. 1 in sales for next gen consoles in January, nearly doubling the nearest next gen competitor, and remains the cumulative leader, according to today’s NPD report,” Guy Longworth said in a statement. “Although PS4 remains severely constrained at retail, we are working hard to refresh supply as quickly as possible.”
He continued, “It’s clear gamers are choosing PlayStation as the best place to play with PS4 software sales ranking No. 1 in January, highlighted by strong sales of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, which sold twice as many units on PS4 than any other platform.”
Meanwhile, Xbox Corporate vice president of marketing Yusuf Mehdi took to Microsoft’s Xbox Wire site to inform Xbox One fans that Microsoft sold far more next-generation games than Sony in January.
“More importantly, it is gratifying for our team to see Xbox continue to prove it’s the best place to play games,” Mehdi wrote. “January NPD Group figures released today revealed Xbox* sold the most games across all console platforms in January with 2.27 million units sold, making up 47 percent of software market share. Fans continue to show their excitement for new generation Xbox One games, with U.S. consumers purchasing an average of 2.7 games per console since launch. This amazing success is due in large part to our unrivaled games lineup, first class Xbox Live multiplayer games service and a platform for game developers that offers unique capabilities such as Kinect and Xbox SmartGlass.”
