In the battle between the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, it looks as if Sony's machine is winning, at least when it comes to number of units sold. The company has just announced that worldwide sales of its console have passed the 30.2 million mark, giving it "the fastest and strongest growth in PlayStation hardware history."
In March this year, it was reported that just over 20 million gamers had purchased a PS4 since its launch, meaning that the console has seen sales of around 1.25 million units a month up to this point. With Black Friday and the festive season quickly approaching, Sony expects to shift a further 17.5 million PlayStation 4s between now and the end of March 2016.
Sony's big rival, Microsoft, hasn't revealed any recent sales figures for its console. The last announcement the Redmond-based company made on Xbox One numbers was in November 2014, when Microsoft stated its machine had sold 10 million units worldwide.
VGChartz, which has unofficial sales figures for all consoles, puts the current Xbox One worldwide total at 15.59 million. Nintendo, Sony's home country rival, is languishing behind both the tech giants; its Wii U console has sold 10.86 million units to date.
It's worth pointing out, however, that the difference between sales of Xbox Ones and PS4s in North America isn't as huge, with Sony's console outselling Microsoft's machine by 1 million units. Moreover, US sales of Xbox Ones outpaced the PS4 for the first time last month, partly due to the release of Halo 5: Guardians.
The PS4 may boast the fastest growth in PlayStation hardware history, but it still has a way to go before its total sales numbers come close to those of the biggest selling console of all time - the PlayStation 2, which sold over 155 million units worldwide.
"Gamers across the globe have continued to choose PS4 as the best place to play since launch two years ago," President and Global CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Andrew House, said in a statement."Thanks to the support of our partners, PS4 continues to be the premier platform for games and interactive entertainment innovation."
With both manufacturers slashing the price of their consoles over the upcoming sales period, it'll be interesting to see if the PS4 stays ahead of the Xbox One in the US market. But when it comes to number of units sold worldwide, it looks as if Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do.