EA data suggests the PlayStation 4 has sold more than twice as many units as the Xbox One

While the antagonism between PC and console owners has raged on for years, the latter group consists of another long-running rivalry: Xbox vs PlayStation. According to recent statements by Electronic Arts, Sony is beating its competitor into the ground right now, but Microsoft disagrees with the figures.

As reported by Variety, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen was discussing the state of the game industry at the company's recent earnings call and talked about expectations for PS4 and Xbox One sales.

"Turning to our expectations for fiscal 2019, we expect sales of current-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony to continue to be strong, with the installed base growing to 130 million consoles by the end of calendar 2018 from 103 million at the end of calendar 2017," he said.

While Jorgensen didn't break down individual sales figures for the consoles, it's possible to work them out using data announced by Sony in January. The Japanese firm said the PlayStation 4 had cumulatively sold more than 73.6 million units as of December 31, 2017. That leaves around 29.4 million Xbox One sales, under half the number of PS4s that have been sold.

At the start of 2017, there were an estimated 25 million Xbox One owners, which would mean there have only been 5 million Xbox One sales in 2017. Sony, meanwhile, recently announced that 19 million PlayStation 4s were sold last year.

Jorgensen added that EA expects the Nintendo Switch to reach 30 million sales by the end of this year, challenging the Xbox One for second position on the most-popular console list behind the PlayStation 4.

With the Xbox One being more popular in the US rather than markets such as Japan, where Sony's console dominates, the company focuses on engagement rather than sales as an indicator of its performance.

Microsoft disputes the recent figures but never revealed any actual sales numbers. "The projections are inaccurate," a spokesperson told Variety. "Regardless, we are focused on delivering amazing gaming experiences to players on all devices and engagement is our measure of progress. We just announced a record start to the year with Xbox Live monthly active users up 13% to 59 million."