Microsoft says PS4 sales were more than double of the Xbox One

What you need to know

• Microsoft has stated Sony sold “more than twice as many” PlayStation 4 consoles than its lifetime Xbox One sales, according to new filings via Brazil’s competition regulator.
• The claim suggests Microsoft sold less than 58.6 million Xbox One consoles throughout the generation, falling behind Sony’s 117.2 million total PlayStation 4 sales and the 111.08 million Nintendo Switch sales to date.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 consoles beat out Xbox One by racking up over double total sales, according to new insight from Microsoft. The Xbox owner has provided a rare update on total lifetime console sales in new documents submitted to Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) amid its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

This latest insight comes as Microsoft awaits regulatory approval on the $68.7 billion deal, set to bring hit franchises from Call of Duty to Candy Crush under the Xbox family. Microsoft has now told the Brazilian competition regulator Sony outsold Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles by over double, providing the first official update on Xbox hardware sales figures since October 2015.

“Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many [than] Xbox in the last generation,” Microsoft stated, as translated by Game Luster. With Sony reporting 117.2 million total lifetime sales across its PlayStation 4 family, Microsoft suggests less than 58.6 million Xbox One consoles had shipped since 2013.

Microsoft stopped reporting Xbox One console sales in October 2015, stating its focus had shifted from console sales to overall engagement. Later financials used Xbox Live members as a key metric moving forward, reflecting its growing focus on services, later accompanied by Xbox Game Pass. The move also helped obscure the number of Xbox One consoles in living rooms as PlayStation 4 sales rapidly outpaced Microsoft’s devices.

The claim aligns with a past report from Ampere Analysis (via The Verge) with estimated Xbox One sales of around 51 million consoles in 2020. Microsoft’s comments confirm what many had suspected — the Xbox One fell far behind the PlayStation 4’s 117.2 million and the Nintendo Switch’s 111.08 million units sold to date.

The latest update joins a series of insights tied to the Activision Blizzard acquisition, with recent regulatory filings documenting Sony’s opposition to the deal and Microsoft’s efforts to dampen concerns. Microsoft has also kicked back over Sony paying companies for “blocking rights,” preventing companies from bringing games rival services like Xbox Game Pass.