Microsoft typically doesn't like providing data about the sales of Xbox consoles these days, but it looks like we have some anyway, courtesy of an apparent ID@Xbox presentation over at the BIG Festival in Brazil.
A snapshot from the presentation appears to reveal that over 21 million Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles have now been sold, which results in over 79 million combined sales of the Xbox One, Series X and Series S so far.
For what it's worth, the website VGChartz is suggesting that Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S sales have just passed 22 million, while the PS5 is sitting at 38 million and the Nintendo Switch leads the pack with a whopping 126 million.
While Xbox clearly trails the PS5 and Switch right now, we think Microsoft will be pretty happy with these numbers overall - and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a surge in sales around the time of Starfield's release this September.
What are your thoughts about this? Let us know down in the comments section beow.
Comments 47
Console and subscriber numbers will increase markedly at the time of Starfield's release. We're never likely to be told by exactly how many, but I bet it will be pretty significant...
If Starfield performs like Cyberpunk did at release I expect Tooth Gnashing to rise over 47%. It can happen folks.
@Fiendish-Beaver Will they when you can play on PC and the cloud? I expect some spike in sales, and subscribers, but it may not be as drastic because they spread themselves about. But as you said we're unlikely to ever know.
I guess we'll never actually know, @themightyant. If anything, there will be some that opt for the Series S. Whilst I absolutely get that many will choose to play on a PC, I don't expect many will buy a PC in order to play the game, bearing in mind the expense of purchasing a decent PC compared to buying even a Series X. It is unfortunate that Microsoft are so secretive over these kind of things...
I’m a little surprised at the figure as many have said it’s been 22m+ for a good few months now.
I genuinely believed Xbox were closer to 25mil now.
Odd... I don't have a twitter account, and up to this date I was able to click on any embedded tweet and read them, but that does not seem to be working. I can see the embedded tweet, but can't click through to read the thread.
Many people will buy a Series S|X for Starfield and for future games like Avowed, Forza, Fable, Perfect Dark, Indiana Jones... although some may be out by the time Series S2|X2 are released.
In any case, Xbox is consoles, PCs, mobile and even TVs with Game Pass. It sounds crazy but some people will play Starfield on Xbox One using Game Pass Cloud. Ask me and I choose Series X.
@themightyant @Fiendish-Beaver
They already have! I actually re-bought a Series X, mostly for Starfield, but not only that. The Xbox Showcase made me a believer again. Also, a couple of prominent Push Square guys have publicly admitted to buying a Series X as well, Starfield being the reason.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner With all the legal shenanigans going on and Microsoft cherry picking data to look small right now, I wouldn't put it past them to downplay the number of consoles a little (perhaps show slightly older data). I wouldn't take this as gospel fact for relevant numbers today.
@gollumb82 I said there would be a spike in console sales, I just expect it to be less than it would be than if this was a Xbox ONLY exclusive, not PC & Cloud too.
I think a lot of people will wait to see whats delivered. Todd is famous for over promising and under delivering, so there is little scepticism out there.
Hopefully the team delivers (im a believer since the deep dive), and if it reviews as well as I hope, its bound to increase xbox sales for a bit. Good. Long term investment deserves to be rewarded and xbox needs it to be a compelling title - hopefully the first of many.
And GP subscribers overall are probably close to 50M. They were in the high 30's about two years ago. So, no doubt.
@themightyant
I suppose MS will be happy with a spike, however small or short. The last year and a half has been a dry spell for Xbox. Game Pass subs will likely see a spike as well, so all things considered it should be enough for MS to call it a success.
@themightyant I wonder if the new higher priced series S might not sell aswell, especially as many use an S for a second console.
I hope it’s sandbagging the sales a little.
@Romans12 if they were 50million I guarantee MS would be telling us.
Edit, a quick google shows somewhere between 25-30mil GP users in second half of 2022
That is fantastic news to be honest!
Especially with Stock issues to this day. Not bad at all.
Series S has been a refreshing find for many too!
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Game Pass is easy over 30 Mil now
Plus game pass PC is taking off big time!!
@Romans12 Almost all data suggests they are around 30 million.
22 million is the last official figure we had in Jan 22 but subs had slowed. They've already admitted they have saturated Game Pass subscribers on Xbox, and they are pushing it more on PC (one of the reasons PC Game Pass didn't get a price increase along with Console Game Pass)
Sony estimated they had 29 million last November but the common belief among analysts and media was this was high, as they were trying to claim Game Pass was big and had too much of a head start.
Regardless it's nowhere near 50 million.
@Moonglow "Redfall was expected to be the start of the console push, but it flopped. Motorsports, Starfield, Hellblade 2 and Avowed will drive sales, and they are all coming within the next 12 months;"
I would change that to 18months to be on the safe side. I expect at least avowed if not both to release in the second half of 2024
Exciting times ahead for Xbox and future releases. Strong lineup of games and Hellblade 2 is my most anticipated game from their studios. Lucky to be in a position of owning both X/S and game pass is my saving grace of gaming (my bank account also loves me for game pass)
I hope you enjoy your new console, @gollumb82. Personally I love it, as I do my PS5. I have a high end gaming PC too that cost me over £2600, but I haven't used it for gaming for about 2 years now. That will probably change when Baldur's Gate 3 comes out, if it doesn't show up on the Xbox at about the same time. Gaming on a PC is so much more hassle than on a console, particularly so if you don't really understand computers that well. Much easier to just turn on a console and press play! Bit of tangent there 😂 But anyway, welcome to the Xbox community...
@BrilliantBill ps5 is around 38m according to same estimates that had Xbox at 22m.
@Fiendish-Beaver
Thanks mate, but I've kind of been here since November 2020 😉 Bought a Series X at launch, only to replace it a year later with a PS5 and Series S combo. A year later I got a gaming PC and a Switch. Last week I sold that PC and now I have a Series X and a Switch lol. A journeyman here, for sure. Still, I really like the Series X and got rid of my PC because of the hassle you spoke of.
@gollumb82 I'm a push square guy and have bought an Xbox too! Or am I a Pure Xbox guy and bought a PS5....I can never tell 🤔
Anyway - Xbox not doing too badly with these figures and as people mention above, they should have a surge once Starfield releases. Looking at those figures its crazy to say PS are market leaders and MS are rock bottom. I'd argue Nintendo are the Man City while Sony and MS are the Palace and Wolves fighting out down in 7th and 8th place!
@Romans12 dude if it was 50 million they would have been touting each 5 mil step. Also pretty sure during FTC it was stated by Jim Ryan for it to be around 25 to ps plus’s high 40s
@BrilliantBill
It all depends on how much you value graphics and performance. IMO Series S is a great little machine for the price. It looks nice, it's small and silent under load (something I love about my Series X too). Yes, it is slightly worse in the graphics department but it's not a huge gap. I actually compared FH4 on both Series consoles and while Series X does make it look better, it still looks and plays great on Series S. One unknown is the future. Series S already is starting to be held back by its hardware. However if it really can output Starfield at 1440p/30 I will be impressed. Long storh short- if it's a second console (your main being PS5, for example) go for it. If not, get a Series X 👍
@StonyKL
Haha. Good comparison, but I've always been a Magpies fan 😉 Still remember when I was in Newcastle in the summer of 2004 when news broke out that Patrick Kluivert was about to join the team. What a mess this turned out to be lol. Now Newcastle is City 2.0 lol. It's really nice to see PS5 and Xbox folk living here in harmony and just enjoying gaming, instead of spreading console wars 🙂
@Dragonsbane yh I noticed today that you need an acc to check twitter now, doesn't even work on incognito
@Rmg0731 @PsBoxSwitchOwner We know PS+ numbers because Sony has published them as part of their inverstor briefings. As of March 2023
That is 14.1 million on their higher tiers which are the closest equivalent to Game Pass. Essential, the base tier, is more like Xbox Live Gold.
As I said above it's likely Game Pass is around 30 million, perhaps a little more at a stretch, so over double the size of the multi-game subscription tiers on PS+.
EDIT: Also worth noting that those PS+ numbers are unlikely to have gone up in the next 3 months because, like Microsoft on console, they have already saturated the market of people interested, Sony are stuck around 50 million max. In fact PS+ max numbers have slightly shrunk in the last few years since COVID, probably similar with Game Pass in some respects, at least on Console, PC is still growing.
I don’t think this is terrible but I don’t think it’s great. It’s definitely “MID”. I do think they are doing better now.
@FenIsMightier
I guess you are in a very small minority as far as your feelings towards Starfield are concerned. I was very underwhelmed by that Spiderman 2 gameplay trailer as just more of the same stuff that Arkham games did better years ago IMO. I finished the game on PS4 PRO and don't feel like playing part 2 at all. Still, I get why many people like this game (franchise) and I bet way more people will like Starfield as opposed to those who won't. Starfield on PC is actually pretty cheap if you don't buy it from Steam directly.
@Moonglow Starfield will absolutely lead to an increase in game pass subscriptions but the real issue is whether it will be a sustained increase or a temporary one where people sub, play the game and then cancel their sub again after they are done with it. I personally have a free trial for game pass that I got when I bought me laptop that I may use to play Starfield when it comes out. That's the risk with adding games into a sub service day one, people can effectively play the game for the price of a single month's sub if they wish. It's one of the main reasons I think Sony don't want to add first party games in on release as it's a risky strategy.
Speaking of system sellers - I bought this X solely because of Street Fighter. I would not have bought either Sony or an Xbox had it not been for Capcom. The Switch will remain the superior choice this entire gen I imagine. I don't see how it can't.
And I bought a fancypants tv. So I wanted to see it shine. Capcom + Samsung are system sellers.
thanks for listening doc.
It’s kind low, but stock issues and then putting the chips into the cloud didn’t help. But Sony has a chance with Spider-Man 2 to almost double up or better Xbox Hardware. So Xbox is in the same spot this gen as last and thats with games. Are we starting to see an old saying i still use today and thats, two is company and three’s a crowd. Meaning is 3 consoles in the space to many? Is one bound to just not do well, even if it has good games? I am not sure, but it seems like Sony and Nintendo are just untouchable they can sell 1 million units i the middle of March or May, and that’s a holiday number for Xbox. I love my Series X, but it just seems like another gen of being way way behind in sales. That’s hard to come back from as it’s just more and more game libraries built on the other two. Not sure what else they can do really.
@Moonglow Phil Spencer has already said growth is slow on console because "at some point you’ve reached everybody on console that wants to subscribe", same for PS+. Sony maxed out around 50 million and they are never likely going above that.
But that may not be good for consumers if it means they can no longer make the sort of big budget games which they are known for. We still don't know if that model is sustainable for them. While i'd love Sony games Day 1 on their service, if it meant the standard dropped or the type of games changed it would be worse for gamers.
@themightyant there was also the circana?! Report recently that subscription growth in the US had almost levelled off, I think it was 2% growth across both PS/Xbox
@Sifi nobody has used biased subscription numbers anywhere?!
@themightyant broke down the Sony numbers, which showed GP has more subscribers.
So absolutely nothing is bias.
Wow. And I thought the Xbox One numbers were bad. In January 2016, 2 years and 2 months into the Xbox One cycle, Microsoft had sold 19 million units. 2 years and 7 months into the Series X | S cycle and they’ve only sold 21 million units?
Starfield can’t even help with that, especially when Microsoft’s console parity clause is preventing much more anticipated games like Baldur’s Gate from releasing on the Series X.
@Sifi We don't have Xbox Live Gold numbers as Microsoft don't put them out! I put out the data that was available.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Exactly Xbox Game Pass has over double the number of PS+ Extra and Premium. The services don't perfectly match up but this is the closest equivalent.
@Sifi The 11 GAAS are a worry, but Naughty Dog excepted, these are all from new studios or ones that already made multiplayer/live services. As far as we know from leaks and job listing ALL their usual studios, and Naughty Dog, are still making single player games. That hasn't changed.
When the Series X/S got announced, i said in my head they need to hit 65-70 million units sold to get back in the game against Sony and the overall eyes of the gamers. Clearly i had no idea about Bethesda and ABK deals. But i am starting to wonder if they will hit that sales mark i had in mind. If they only do 7-8 million more than Xbox One, that is a touch concerning to me.
Next two years come and tell me your numbers.
" is suggesting that Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S sales have just passed 22 million, while the PS5 is sitting at 38 million "
the ps can't even double the xbox sales with all the lies and stumbling xbox is doing.
It may be behind PS5 by a substantial amount, but 22 million is still a great number or units sold in 2 and half years.
As others said, I think Starfield will push a lot of units this holiday season.
@FenIsMightier starfield is definitely a system seller and the term you are looking for is killer app. The deepdive was one of the best of all time. It will appeal to the mass market and geeks too. Wherever the real game matches up to the quality shown so far, the jury will be out!
If its not your style of game. That's fine, it's not particularly mine either. But you have to admit that Bethesda open world rpgs are big business and big news. Especially as the game won't be available on the PS5.
If starfield hits like a jack hammer, especially with PlayStations awful state of play. Then it will most definitely shift consoles.
@themcnoisy Sony have Spider-Man out this winter. Which outside of gaming websites is the bigger draw. So I don’t think one console will make a big jump in sales over the other. But Xbox has a good lineup around starfield to supplement it.
That's really not an impressive number looking at the competition. But for Xbox it's alright. If they had console exclusives that number would be far higher, but as we know with their current CEO that'll never ever happen.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Spiderman and Miles Morales were both top drawer. I sold my ps5 last year and still miss Miles Morales. It was pure quality. However, the series is now a known quantity. Spiderman 2 will be the same base openworld style with extra layers. Exciting for sure and I (as a fan of both games) will have fomo. For anyone not onboard already, they probably won't care.
@FenIsMightier I see your point. It could all collapse like a stack of cards. Worse, it could seriously damage Bethesdas reputation. Honestly, I'm not a fan of making your own fun with gimmicks - such as nerfed base building or ship designing. I much prefer a solid game which is great at a few mechanics, rather than having a plethora of ideas, with barely any realised to their full potential.
1000 planets seems like overkill to me. Why not stop at 80? Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
With all that said, the presentation did a lot right! It has the look, feel and hype of a brand new thing, as long as the campaign is solid fun and the inevitable bugs and glitches are less prevalent than prior games. It could be a huge hit. These type of experiences are what the mass market wants, free-form, streamable, rpg light, action heavy, adventure.
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