PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X: Sony reveals sales figures, Microsoft names growth rate

In recently published quarterly figures, Sony named specific sales figures for PlayStation 5, not only for the previous quarter, but also after the console was released in November last year. Microsoft has been proactive again and prefers to talk about growth rates than solid sales figures.

PlayStation 5 has become As per quarterly report (PDF) In the previous quarter, which ended on 30 September, 3.3 million copies were sold, resulting in a turnover of approximately 1.2 billion euros. The total number of PlayStation 5s sold has risen to 13.4 million since publication—poor availability still prevents high sales volume, but the same applies to Microsoft’s Xbox Series X.

Xbox hardware grows 166 percent

Microsoft has only announced that sales with the Xbox series may increase by 166 percent compared to the same period last year, but still doesn’t give any specific sales figures for the new console. Unlike the Xbox Series X, the Xbox Series S is now readily available.

Only 200,000 PS4s Sold

However, PlayStation 4 hardly plays any role now. They only sold about 200,000 copies – in the year-ago quarter and thus before the PlayStation 5, it was 1.5 million.

Games and extra content boost sales

Sony was able to replace around 2.6 billion euros with software last quarter, which is significantly more than hardware. Only a little over 213 million euros comes from the physical games that are traditionally bought in stores. About 1 billion euros is accounted for by digitally purchased games and 1.4 billion euros from additional content such as DLC or in-game purchases.

A total of 76.4 million video games were purchased for PlayStation 4 and 5 last quarter, of which only 7.6 million came directly from Sony. Thus 68.8 million copies are allocated to third-party games.

Sony also named 47.2 million subscribers to PlayStation Plus last quarter, down 400,000 from its all-time high in autumn 2020. In total, there are currently 104 million active users of PlayStation or PlayStation Network.