PlayStation 5 continues to outperform the Xbox Series X and S in most of Europe

[DragonSlayer101]

What just happened? PlayStation 5 has long won the game console battle against the Xbox Series X and S in terms of global sales, and a new report has now laid bare the extent of Microsoft's struggles. According to the latest data, PS5 sales in Europe (except the UK and Germany) grew 143 percent year-on-year last October, while Xbox Series S and X sales declined 52 percent.

The report, which comes from GamesIndustry.Biz, revealed a similar month-on-month trend, with PS5 sales up 11 percent compared with September, while Xbox sales were down almost 20 percent. While Nintendo Switch sales in October were also up around 10 percent over the previous month, YoY figures show a 20 percent drop. Overall, 481,000 consoles are said to have been sold across the tracked markets in Europe last month.

Console sales often depend on the popularity of exclusive titles, and all three major consoles got blockbuster new games over the past few weeks. While Starfield launched on the Xbox in September, Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros Wonder launched in October on the PS5 and the Switch, respectively. While all three games have been hits, Starfield's popularity doesn't seem to have helped Microsoft sell more consoles.

Before Starfield, Microsoft struggled to roll out blockbuster titles on the Xbox Series X and S, with many of the exclusive games failing to enthuse gamers. A case in point is Halo Infinite, which was a major disappointment at launch, and although the later seasons have been praised by reviewers, it doesn't seem to have done anything for Xbox sales. Another notable failure was Redfall, which sank without a trace in the face of a barrage of criticism from players and reviewers alike.

The report also revealed that the best-selling game in Europe last month was EA Sports' soccer title FC 24. While its sales numbers were 10 percent lower than last year's FIFA 23, most of that can be attributed to the brand name change (due to licensing issues) and excitement generated around the World Cup in Qatar last year. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Mirage was the second highest-selling title, while Sony's Spider-Man 2 also found a position on the podium.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100945-sony-playstation-5-continues-outperform-xbox-series-x.html

 

[texasrattler]

MS wasnt worried about a console war. Theyve said this seversl times over the years. They arent a hardware company. Their bread n butter comes from software n services.

They have better online, game pass and now have Call of Duty. Will things change, maybe, maybe not. In MS terms, they won long ago. They make way more money than Sony. MS just plays in gaming and has the money to play there.

 

[pencea]

MS wasnt worried about a console war. Theyve said this seversl times over the years. They arent a hardware company. Their bread n butter comes from software n services

They've been known to change their tunes when hardware sales are not going well.

Back when the Xbox 360 was selling well, they were bragging about hardware sales and rubbing it in the competition's face. When the Series X first launched and was off to a strong initial start, they once again cited the importance of hardware numbers sold.

Once the PS5 started to pull far ahead, they immediately downplayed the hardware numbers sold, etc.

Sure, they have more money than Sony, but Sony's gaming division is doing fine just as it is. It's still making money. There's a reason why the PlayStation brand has been around since the PSone era back in the early '90s to now.

Point in case, both Sony and Nintendo are not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[amghwk]

Gamepass is a great deal. The ability to play new games on release for a year for the price of a single AAA title, is a great plus. Not that new games are worth playing anyway. But hundreds of titles to play as soon as you get a gamepass and some of them with 40+hours value, now that is very wholesome.

And almost all games come digital nowadays, and attached to an online DRM. Even if you are a proud owner of a single game, it's just as worth as one as the online DRM server remains active. You can't usually pop in a DVD or CD you owned and just start playing like those days.

And almost all games have cross-over versions, with PS,XB and PC variants. Exclusive games, even in PS ecosystem, are just....meh nowadays.

Don't get me wrong, I have owned the PS4 Pro before. For the "next gen", I got the XBSX.

But my main aim to get the XB Series X this round, is to play classic games on it, like Morrowind and Oblivion, Jade Empire, KOTOR, etc...using gamepad.

 

[mrtraver]

Exclusives suck. They could make more on additional sales that they ever will in hardware. Maybe I just need richer friends, but in my 40+ years of console and PC gaming I have not known a single console owner who said they bought a competing same-gen console solely to play an exclusive. I can think of only one person I know who has both a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, and even in that case he only owned one and then his wife brought one to the marriage.

 

[Kotters]

Exclusives suck. They could make more on additional sales that they ever will in hardware. Maybe I just need richer friends, but in my 40+ years of console and PC gaming I have not known a single console owner who said they bought a competing same-gen console solely to play an exclusive. I can think of only one person I know who has both a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, and even in that case he only owned one and then his wife brought one to the marriage.

I got an Xbox in order to play Halo. I also owned a PS2.

I got a PS3 to play its exclusives towards the end of its life cycle, despite owning a 360.

It was only with the PS4 that I didn't bother getting an Xbone. And I didn't bother getting either a PS5 or Xbox Series.

 

[emmzo]

I've own all PSs, except for the first one and only Xbox360, probably the most popular Xbox, so, I'm sort of biased, but I've always liked the Sony experience more and their exclusives more. Maybe because there were never any discussions about always online or always on mic/camera or other MS usual shenanigans. The only thing I consider superior for MS, it's the Xbox controller. Now I bought a PS5 disk version for 400€ on Romanian Black Friday, which is an unbeatable price, much less than MSRP and what I like about it best, it's the ability to easily upgrade your memory with an M2. And when I say easy, anyone can do it in under 5min. Cool things like that give it an edge and at least for this gen, the battle is clearly in Sony's favor.

 

[Burty117]

MS wasnt worried about a console war. Theyve said this seversl times over the years. They arent a hardware company. Their bread n butter comes from software n services.

Surely that should just read “services” since they are seemingly incapable of producing any good games in the last 10 years.

Let’s be honest for a second here, Microsoft produce far less good games (software) than either Sony or Nintendo.

 

[oasked]

They need more games. People buy systems for the games, and the Sony exclusives are just better.

Having said that, I've got a Switch, Xbox Series S (it was very cheap on a deal) and a gaming PC. No PS5... yet.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Consoles are for children so naturally they will be more inclined to Switch/Playstation, adults buy a PC.

 

[Puiu]

I see absolutely no reason to buy an xbox if I own a gaming PC/laptop. And the console itself is way too US focused, it's not a surprise that it doesn't sell well outside of the US.

 

[toooooot]

Gamepass is a great deal. The ability to play new games on release for a year for the price of a single AAA title, is a great plus. Not that new games are worth playing anyway. But hundreds of titles to play as soon as you get a gamepass and some of them with 40+hours value, now that is very wholesome.

And almost all games come digital nowadays, and attached to an online DRM. Even if you are a proud owner of a single game, it's just as worth as one as the online DRM server remains active. You can't usually pop in a DVD or CD you owned and just start playing like those days.

And almost all games have cross-over versions, with PS,XB and PC variants. Exclusive games, even in PS ecosystem, are just....meh nowadays.

Don't get me wrong, I have owned the PS4 Pro before. For the "next gen", I got the XBSX.

But my main aim to get the XB Series X this round, is to play classic games on it, like Morrowind and Oblivion, Jade Empire, KOTOR, etc...using gamepad.

Gamepass is a great deal. For now. And for Some. If I do not buy a lot of games new or AAA titles, I would rather own them than rent.
For a long time, I realized that I am more interested to try out games from small companies.
And game pass is not that expensive, the price is pretty good now. But who knows when they will decide it has to cost much more or that the amount of games it offers is too much?
Plus, games get cheap quickly unless they are those rare perfect games. Fifa 24 is 3 months old and is already on sale. You can get most of their games cheaper than a month of gamepass price.
Do a lot of people even play a lot of games? Because if no, you are still paying more for the pass of games.