PS4 VS Xbox One: NPD Sales Numbers Show Everyone Losing, Not Just The PlayStation 4
The PS4 vs Xbox One console battle just had a twist with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One NPD sales numbers being released.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, some might argue Microsoft’s defense of the Xbox One hardware performance might qualify it for the gaming lie of the year.
Microsoft has been playing damage control ever since the announcement of the Xbox One. After the launch the PS4 vs Xbox One battle got really heated with the sales numbers and at first all Microsoft could do was combat the numbers with three billion zombies. But then the Xbox One sales numbers did come out and they suggested Microsoft might actually pull ahead by the end of the year.
Even though the PS4 sales numbers are sitting pretty at 2.1 million units, the Xbox One sales numbers are only slightly less at about two million units. So is Sony the winner? Not really. The PlayStation 4 launch day gave the PS4 about a week head start in sales and the November NPD report even notes that if you look at “sales on an average per-week basis, Xbox One actually led PS4.” So it’s really a tossup (something fanboys will hate).
At this point you’re probably asking, “Why does the title for this article say everyone is losing?” While, yes, it’s nice that about 101,000 consoles were sold per day, and 2013 hardware sales were 58 percent higher at $1.3 billion, the other numbers were not so pretty. The good news is that the NPD says the overall game industry sales increased by seven percent to $2.74 billion:
“This is the fourth consecutive month for an increase in combined physical sales across hardware, software and accessories. Unlike the past three months where growth was driven by software, positive trends for both hardware and accessory sales drove on overall increase of 7 percent.”
And that’s where the bad news comes in. Video game software sales were down by an amazing 24 percent, dropping from $1.434 to $1.085 billion. While, yes, it can be argued that gamers were spending money on Xbox One and PS4 hardware rather than games, this still isn’t a good thing. Both of the consoles are loss leaders and software sales are how video game developers, and the console companies, make money. Call of Duty: Ghosts was the leader in software sales but other reports point how how the CoD: Ghosts gravy train may be coming to an end for Activision.
Do you think the PS4 and Xbox One NPD report is a reason to be concerned about the health of the video game industry? Or is the dip in software sales just a hiccup?
