Xbox One Outsells PS4 in October 2016
By Jasmine Henry 12 November 2016
Aided by newly released shooters Gears of War 4 and Battlefield 1, the Xbox One outsells the PS4 in October 2016, making it the fourth month in a row.
Xbox One sales have been on the up over the last few months, with September marking the third month in a row that the console had outsold the PS4. Aided by the release of slimmer and more powerful hardware, the Xbox One S, the Microsoft console, which has lagged behind its closest rival in terms of sales, is finally catching up.
The console’s current run of good form isn’t ready to slow down yet, either, according to the latest NPD report. The NPD Group, which reports games industry figures for the United States, says that more Xbox Ones were sold than PS4s in the month of October 2016, making it the fourth month on the trot. But the US isn’t the only place where the Xbox One was on top, as Microsoft has also confirmed that it outsold the PS4 in the United Kingdom and in Australia too, making it the second month in a row in those regions.
Two major factors in the console’s October success, says Microsoft, is the release of Gears of War 4 and Battlefield 1. As a highly anticipated PC and Xbox One exclusive, Gears of War 4’s impact is no surprise and the fact that Conan O’Brien and Wiz Khalifa played the game during a Clueless Gamer segment likely helped the title and the console towards sales success. Battlefield 1 sales have been impressive too, with the game outperforming its predecessors Battlefield Hardline and Battlefield 4 in its first week. With Microsoft having a marketing deal with the game (which included BF1 Xbox One bundles) as well, the company has been able to reap the benefits.
That being said, it’s not as though the Xbox One didn’t face stiff opposition from the PS4 during October. The launch of PlayStation VR was successful, according to Sony, but the new virtual reality tech hasn’t made enough of an impact just yet for it to help shift that much more PS4 consoles. The PS4 Slim was also released mid-September, but that wasn’t enough either.
As for whether or not the Xbox One can come out on top in November to make it the fifth month in a row, right now that looks uncertain. The launch of the PS4 Pro is likely to tip the scales in Sony’s favor, while new release Final Fantasy XV (which has PS4 Pro support) could also have a significant effect. There are also several other November releases (including Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Watch Dogs 2) that have marketing and/or DLC exclusivity deals in place with the PS4 and these too could make a big difference.
Source: IGN
