Breakdown
- Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles sell 5 times worse than PS5
- Having two console models hasn’t helped to increase sales
- New exclusives may not be enough to save the brand
Xbox is in trouble. Despite starting the generation with two consoles, Microsoft’s hardware sells five times worse than the Sony PS5.
As the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 specs spell danger for the Xbox Series S, the more powerful Series X device is selling substantially worse than its primary competitor.
Sales tracker Niko Partners, via analyst Daniel Ahmad, reveals Xbox’s unfortunate position behind the PlayStation 5. Even with two consoles in its catalog, Xbox is failing to make a dent.
From January to March, Sony sold 4.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles, bringing the total to 59.3 million sold. According to Ahmad, Xbox has sold five times less than this resulting in around 0.9 million units in the same period.
Xbox hardware revenue dropped by 31% year over year, according to Microsoft’s latest financial report. While digital sales from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard has increased revenue overall, Xbox’s hardware is failing to deliver.
With Microsoft’s recent reveal that it’s shuttering beloved studios including Hi-Fi Rush’s Tango Gameworks and Prey’s Arkane Austin, longtime Xbox fans have lost confidence in the brand.
Despite this, new Xbox hardware is still in the works. An all-digital Xbox Series X model is reportedly in development alongside brand-new controllers and an Xbox Series Portable handheld.
However, while new hardware is integral to the future of the console brand, gamers aren’t biting. While the Game Pass subscription service offers a neat incentive to join the Xbox ecosystem, the lack of new killer exclusives amidst studio closures makes the platform a hard sell.
Nevertheless, there is a number of killer exclusives in the works for the Xbox platform at the time of writing. Alongside games like Fable and Perfect Dark, MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and The Great Circle could reignite hype behind the Xbox platform, but will this save Xbox?
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