According to a January report by industry research firm The NPD Group, PlayStation is currently winning the battle of the next-gen console but Xbox is also enjoying its share of the software spoils. In the US, the PlayStation 4 sold the most of all next-gen consoles in January, almost doubling that of the Xbox One. The PS4 also holds the preferred next-gen console when it came to the most popular console games sold. Xbox did, however, manage to sell the most games with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One’s sales put together.
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While exact figures aren’t currently public, NDP analyst Liam Callahan in a Sony Q&A that the “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.”
“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,” Sony spokesperson Guy Longworth said to VentureBeat.
This just in: PS4 the #1 selling game console in the US in January, still #1 worldwide. Thanks, guys! pic.twitter.com/1vOFmtUukX
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 13, 2014
Xbox did have the edge when it came to the overall console game sales when you include both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. Xbox sold the most games across all console platforms in January with 2.27 million units sold, making up 47% of software market share.
“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,” Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Marketing said in a blog post.
As NDP told VentureBeat, these are the games that fared the best in January:
- Call of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PC)
- NBA 2K14 (PS4, 360, Xbox One, PS3, PC)
- Battlefield 4 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Wii U, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
- Madden NFL 25 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Minecraft (360)
- FIFA 14 (PS4, Xbox One, PS3, 360, Vita)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, 3DS, Wii U, Vita, PC)
- Tomb Raider (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
In terms of the next-gen console games, the PlayStation 4 trumped the Xbox One with only COD: Ghosts and Lego Marvel Super Heroes being more popular among Xbox One gamers. Most of these popular games have similar user ratings on Metacritic except for Tomb Raider that got 7.2 for the PS4 version and a lower score of 6.4 for the Xbox One version.
Xbox is further holding it’s head up high saying that it’s just getting started and that we should hold on to our seats while it preps the release of the Xbox, PC exclusive Titanfall.
