PS4 Tops Console Sales for December 2015
By Cody Gravelle 26 January 2016
The more things change, the more things stay the same: Sony’s PS4 remains the console to beat, besting the Xbox One and Wii U during the crucial gauntlet that is the holiday season.
Although there have been brief moments during the PS4’s reign of supremacy where it looked like the Xbox One might be a legitimate contender in console sales figures, for the most part, Sony’s current generation console has enjoyed a lengthy stay at the top, and December was no different. The NPD Group is reporting that the PlayStation 4 outpaced its competitors once more during a surprisingly frisky holiday season that saw both the PS4 and Xbox One both garner their best month of sales on record.
The report also suggests that both the PS4 and Xbox One are outpacing their predecessors’ sales figures by a whopping 47 percent total, bolstered mainly by the continued strength of both consoles’ retail software sales. While it’s no secret that Sony has been leaning heavily on the PS4 to help the company’s lagging profits, it’s a pleasant surprise to see the Xbox One rebound so well from an ultimately disappointing November that saw Microsoft’s console cede the sales throne back to the PS4 after a strong October.
Sony also went on record as saying that the PS4 had the strongest third-party software sales in the United States at retail throughout 2015, which will come as no surprise to those who were following the company’s strong push to buy as many console exclusives as possible over the course of the past year. Sony president Shuhei Yoshida also believes 2016 will feature a huge slew of big games for the PS4, which will help the machine attempt to hold on to its increasingly precarious spot at the top of the sales charts.
With 2015 behind each manufacturer now, 2016 looks like the year where the true champion of this generation’s consoles may be decided. Sony recently trademarked the term “VRPG”, which may refer to a virtual reality roleplaying game currently in production, and if that is the case then Microsoft and Nintendo will have to present equally compelling reasons to remain loyal to each company’s consoles. That being said, given how well the Xbox One has rebounded recently and Nintendo’s decision to begin abandoning the Wii U to focus more heavily on the upcoming NX system, it would be foolish to count out anyone in what’s sure to be a hotly contested sales year.
Meanwhile, however, December 2015 is a noteworthy sales period for the way it so accurately sums up all of 2015. The PS4 remained the most successful, the Xbox One made up some of the ground its earlier shortcomings lost it in years past, and Nintendo continued its questionable yet ultimately unique approach to video games by not really caring much about traditional factors like sales figures and popularity. Gamers can expect 2016 to bring some changes, but for now, it’s simply more of the same.
What do you think about the PS4 winning the holiday sales month? Will 2016 represent a big paradigm shift in gaming sales? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Game Informer
