Remember when the last generation of consoles were still the new kids on the block and everywhere you looked on the internet you saw references to “console wars”? You don’t really hear that term as much anymore, and the reason is clear- the PS4 is clearly dominating the competition. I’m not even sure if the Wii-U can be put in the same class as the Xbox One or the PS4, but even if it could, it wouldn’t matter. The PS4 has simply outsold all of its competition in the current-gen, and it’s been out for a shorter length of time!
The numbers (taken from VGChartz.com), don’t lie. As of July 3rd, 2015, sales for the “big three” are as follows:
PS4 Total Units Sold: 23,217,798
XBONE Total Units Sold: 12,835,320
Wii-U Total Units Sold: 9,727,909
That means the PS4 has sold almost twice as many units as the Xbox One in a shorter amount of time. The PS2, Sony’s last top-selling console, didn’t even see these numbers in that time period. So why is the PS4 continuing to sell so well? There are a few reasons.
Pre-Release Controversy
In the months and years leading up to the release of the current-gen consoles, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Xbox One. DRM policies that prevented sharing games with your friends and meant that you couldn’t even use the console if you didn’t have an internet connection were at the center of consumers’ anger, and they alone made the decision clear for many gamers. Fans of the Xbox 360 who had never even owned a PlayStation were suddenly looking at the PS4 as an option, and even when Microsoft started going back on their terrible decisions, minds had already been made up.
A More Affordable Price
The PS4 retailed at $399, while the Xbox One was originally a hundred dollars more. Microsoft justified the higher price tag by pointing out the fact that their console came with the Kinect, but Sony offered their peripheral separately and for $60, making the whole package still forty dollars cheaper. The price of the Xbox One eventually lowered to match the PS4, but that’s when the next factor had started to come into play.
A Fantastic Collection of Games
The list of exclusive games that call the PS4 home is growing every day, and the PS Now program makes it easy to play classic exclusives from previous generations. “The Last of Us: Remastered” has been included in a bunch of different console bundles since release, and since the title got so much attention last-gen, a lot of gamers saw getting a PS4 as a good opportunity to finally get their hands on the game. In addition, “Infamous: Second Son”, “Bloodborne” and others have attracted gamers who have still been on the fence, and when a remake of “Final Fantasy VII” was announced as a future PlayStation exclusive, the decision was instantly made for a lot of other gamers who plan on getting current-gen consoles a little further down the road. On the flip side of the coin, two of Microsoft’s biggest franchises (“Halo” and “Gears of War”) have been going downhill recently, according to critics.
Keeping Momentum
Simple economics show that if a product becomes popular, that popularity will lead to more sales in the future. The momentum that the PS4 has gained with high sales in the past has directly contributed to the fact that it’s continuing to sell so well. Think of it like this- if you’re the last of your gaming friends to buy a current-gen console, and all of your friends have purchased PS4s instead of XBONEs, which one of the systems are you going to pick up? You’re going to get the PS4, of course, so that you can continue to game with your buddies.
