Xbox One, through some clever bundle offers, has outsold Playstation 4 for the first time in over a year
For the first time in twelve months, Xbox One has finally outsold PS4, albeit only in the US, by a slight margin. Even with an impending Xbox One S launch, more people bought Xbox One than PlayStation 4 in the month of July.
Microsoft officially announced yesterday that Xbox One was the best-selling video game console in the United States of America for the month of July.
NPD Group’s monthly report for July broke the news. Of course, various media outlets were unable to get their hands on NPD’s report this week because of a recent change which adds digital data to NPD sales data.
But it doesn’t change the fact that Xbox One was able to beat PS4 in terms of numbers of units sold. Indeed it is an unexpected if not an outright strange milestone.
Playstation 4 has consistently outsold Xbox One since its launch date. That doesn’t mean that Xbox One has never outsold Playstation 4 in any given month.
But the last time Xbox One sold more units than PlayStation 4 in a single month was in October of 2015.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 has managed to keep Xbox One at bay for every month since then. This news also does not necessarily mean that July 2016 was the biggest month for Xbox One in terms of sales.
Xbox One was sold the most in December 2015 and that has been the console’s best month ever since its launch date.
Even at that time, Playstation 4 was crowned the top-selling console for the month in the United States but in terms of Xbox One’s own sales numbers, December 2015 was one of the strongest months for Microsoft’s latest video game console.
But perhaps the biggest surprise is not that Xbox One outsold Playstation 4 in the month of July, but it is the fact that Xbox One was more successful than PS4 in the United States when Microsoft had just announced two new (and not much improved if media reports are to be believed) Xbox systems.
One of those systems , which Microsoft said are one the way, is Xbox One S which debuted at the beginning of August. The other, more powerful Xbox One called Project Scorpio, is expected to get a release date sometime during summer holidays in 2017.
Microsoft’s gaming boss, Phil Spencer, even said this while speaking to Giant Bomb during an E3 live stream, “The reason we announced when we did–one is I wanted to give customers a view into what we were doing,” Spencer said. “If they say I have an Xbox One now, I’m thinking about an Xbox One S, I want to be as transparent as I can be so they know they’re buying with as much information as I can give them. I can’t always give them all the information, but I want to give them this information.”
“I want to talk about Scorpio so customers can feel like they have a view into what we were doing so they could make the decision that is right for them.”
The announcement of new consoles such as Project Scorpio and Playstation neo could have had a negative impact on sales numbers in the month of July
Common sense would have indicated that the debut of a new Xbox One system i.e., the Xbox One S (and the speech by Phil Spencer), would have suppressed the sales of standard Xbox One but it seems that may not have been the case at all.
Perhaps the increase in Xbox One sales was due to the fact that Microsoft introduced a number of Xbox One deals such as a $300 Xbox One deal, which was offered at the beginning of July.
The particular deal included a Xbox One 1TB edition and four games: Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay (which is actually a collection of 30 games) and Ori and the Blind Forest.
That deal also allowed buyers to select another free game from Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Just Dance 2016 and Just Dance: Disney Party 2. If that wasn’t enough already, then the same deal also offered a second controller (click here to see how to fix stick drift XBox One controller) along with the one that came with the console itself, a $20 credit for Xbox Design Lab (it is a place where users can design their own custom controllers) and a $50 Microsoft Store credit.
With a deal like that, it is no wonder that Xbox One saw a jump in sales for the month of July. Though it is also possible that the sales numbers of both consoles, Xbox One and Playstation 4, decreased drastically in the month of July because both Microsoft and Sony announced new consoles and Xbox One sales simply decreased to a lesser extent than Playstation 4 sales.
Microsoft also commented on the NPD report and mentioned in its statement that the total gaming hours that Xbox One users had put in Xbox consoles globally were up 18 percent when compared to the same period last year.
The total number of hours reached a mammoth figure of 1.55 billion hours which if translated into years comes to about 170,000 years.
Moreover, the Microsoft statement also noted that the launch edition of Xbox One S had already sold out in Britain and was nearly sold out in the United States as well.
Not only that, Microsoft is still offering bundles to prospective buyers in order to further boost the sale numbers of its Xbox One S model.
A couple of days ago, Microsoft confirmed that a 2TB version of Xbox One S Launch Model would be limited time offer and that the end of August will see three more versions of Xbox One S model.
The Xbox One S model bundle seems to have hit the sweet spot between price and value as Microsoft confirmed with Gamespot that the amount of interest the company has received with regards to its 2TB Xbox One S model was genuinely thrilling.
Eurogamer reported that most, if not all, Xbox One S model 2TB systems had sold out for good. The Xbox One S model 2TB system was made available to the public for $400, and the deal was said to be limited.
At that point in time, the market misunderstood the term “limited” when it actually meant that no more Xbox One S models would be produced instead of simply being difficult to find due to high demand.
According to official sources, Microsoft will introduce a 1TB model which will come bundled with Madden NFL 17 for $350.
Microsoft is also expected to release two more models: one with a 500GB storage capacity along with two games namely Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection which will cost $300.
The third model will offer the same games but with a 1TB hard drive which will cost around $350.
Readers should know that Xbox One has made it quite easy to install an external hard drive so the smaller default hard drive, that comes with the console, shouldn’t be a problem if buyers opt for those respective Xbox One models.
Xbox One has flooded the market with various bundles which might explain a rise in sale numbers
Microsoft has also announced that it will bring new deals to Xbox One S model in order to attract more customers.
One other factor that could have contributed to increased Xbox One sales is the 200+ list of backward compatible games that Microsoft announced a couple of days ago.
The Xbox One backwards compatibility feature allows users to play Xbox 360 games on the new console and Microsoft has promised that the company will give out more older games for the new system.
The list of games that have been promised goes as follows,
- A Kingdom for Keflings
- A World of Keflings
- Aegis Wing
- Age of Booty
- Alan Wake
- Alan Wake’s American Nightmare
- Alien Hominid HD
- Altered Beast
- Anomaly Warzone Earth
- Assassin’s Creed
- Assassin’s Creed II
- Asteroids & Deluxe
- Aqua
- Babel Rising
- Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts
- Banjo Tooie
- Banjo Kazooie
- BattleBlock Theater
- Bejeweled 2
- Bellator: MMA Onslaught
- Beyond Good & Evil HD
- Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
- Bloodforge
- Blood Knights
- Blood of the Werewolf
- BloodRayne: Betrayal
- Boom Boom Rocket
- Borderlands
- Braid
- Brain Challenge
- Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Call of Juarez Gunslinger
- Capcom Arcade Cabinet
- Carcassonne
- Castle Crashers
- Castlestorm
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- The Cave
- Centipede & Millipede
- Comic Jumper
- Comix Zone
- Condemned
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Crazy Taxi
- Crystal Quest
- Crystal Defenders
- Dark Souls
- Dark Void
- Dead Space
- Deadliest Warrior: Legends
- Defense Grid
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut
- Dig Dug
- Dirt 3
- Dirt Showdown
- Discs of Tron
- Domino Master
- Doom
- Doom II
- Doom 3: BFG Edition
- Doritos Crash Course
- Double Dragon: Neon
- DuckTales Remastered
- Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
- Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
- Dungeon Siege III
- Earthworm Jim HD
- Fable II
- Fable III
- Faery: Legends of Avalon
- Fallout 3
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
- Feeding Frenzy
- Feeding Frenzy 2
- Final Fight: Double Impact
- Flashback
- Flock
- Fret Nice
- Frogger
- Frogger 2
- Galaga
- Galaga Legions DX
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves
- Gears of War
- Gears of War 2
- Gears of War 3
- Gears of War: Judgment
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
- Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
- Golden Axe
- Go! Go! Break Steady
- Grid 2
- Gripshift
- Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
- Halo: Reach
- Halo: Spartan Assault
- Halo Wars
- Hardwood Backgammon
- Hardwood Hearts
- Hardwood Spades
- Heavy Weapon
- Hexic 2
- Hexic HD
- Hydro Thunder
- Gunstar Heroes
- I Am Alive
- Ikaruga
- Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
- Iron Brigade
- Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad
- Jet Set Radio
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Joe Danger Special Edition
- Joy Ride Turbo
- Just Cause 2
- Kameo
- Kane & Lynch 2
- The King of Fighters ’98
- Lazy Raiders
- Left 4 Dead
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Lego Batman
- Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
- Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- Lode Runner
- Lumines Live!
- Magic: The Gathering 2012
- Mars: War Logs
- Mass Effect
- Metal Slug 3
- Metal Slug XX
- Might & Magic Clash of Heroes
- Mirror’s Edge
- Missile Command
- Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine
- Monday Night Combat
- Monkey Island: SE
- Monkey Island 2: SE
- Motocross Madness
- Ms. Splosion Man
- Ms Pac-Man
- Mutant Blobs Attack
- MX vs. ATV Reflex
- N+
- NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
- Neogeo Battle Coliseum
- Nights Into Dreams
- Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
- Outland
- Pac-Man
- Pac-Man C.E
- Pac-Man CE DX+
- Pac-Man Museum
- Peggle
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Phantasy Star II
- Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
- Pinball FX
- Plants vs. Zombies
- Portal: Still Alive
- Portal 2
- Prince of Persia
- Putty Squad
- Puzzlegeddon
- Rayman 3 HD
- Rayman Origins
- Red Dead Redemption
- Red Faction: Battlegrounds
- R-Type Dimensions
- Runner 2
- Sacred 3
- Sacred Citadel
- Saints Row IV
- Sam & Max: Beyond Time & Space
- Sam & Max Save the World
- Samurai Shodown II
- Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
- Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
- Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
- Shadow Complex
- Shank 2
- Skullgirls
- Small Arms
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Sonic CD
- Sonic The Fighters
- Sonic The Hedgehog
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2
- Sonic The Hedgehog 3
- Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
- Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II
- Soulcalibur
- Soulcalibur II
- South Park: The Stick of Truth
- Space Giraffe
- Spelunky
- Splosion Man
- SSX
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
- Super Meat Boy
- Supreme Commander 2
- Syberia
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2
- Texas Hold ‘Em
- Ticket to Ride
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
- Torchlight
- Tour de France 2009
- Toy Soldiers
- Toy Soldiers Cold War
- Trials HD
- Tron: Evolution
- Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
- Unbound Saga
- Viva Piñata
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
- Wolfenstein 3D
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- Zuma
- Zuma’s Revenge!
If you still are unable to find your favorite game here (click here to know if Sea of Thieves is on PS4) then don’t lose hope. Microsoft has said that it is in the process of holding discussions with all publishers and developers to add more games to this list (you can play Phasmophobia on Xbox!).
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