After eight years of pent-up demand, Microsoft and Sony finally ushered in the eight generation of consoles with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 back in November of 2013. And according to figures published by MCV, the latter pipped Microsoft to the post to become the fastest-selling gaming console in UK history.
The figures, which report a surge of 530,000 PlayStation 4 sales in the final five weeks of 2013, also reveal that Sony’s closest competitor was in fact the Xbox 360, with Microsoft’s last-gen system falling short by a few thousand units — mind you, the latter had an eleven month headstart. In response to the analytics, Fergal Gara, managing director for PlayStation UK, reflected on the “very strong sales.”
“Since we unveiled the console, gamers have shown huge interest in the PS4. Our focus now is rebuilding stock levels so those have not been able to get a PS4 can finally experience the next-gen. I’d like to thank the gamers, our retail and publishing partners who played a big part in making this success possible.”
Although this is without doubt a commendable achievement for Sony, the company has yet to debut the new hardware in its own native territory — with PlayStation 4 set for a Japanese release next month. In terms of Microsoft, however, the company recently announced that worldwide sales for Xbox One had eclipsed 3 million. Ultimately, given that the PS4 itself has sold 4.2 million units to consumers within roughly the same period, it seems EA’s prediction of 10 million collective sales by April will be outpaced sooner rather than later.
Putting aside the home consoles, though, it was the 3DS which claimed the crown for the industry’s best-selling device of 2013. While Nintendo didn’t publish worldwide figures, the company’s handheld recently surpassed 11.5 million sales in the United States alone. It was the year of Luigi, after all.