It Appears We May Finally Know Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Sales, Kind Of

Microsoft stopped reporting console sales for Xbox a long while ago, namely because they were losing the console race quite badly, even if they said it was because they were turning their attention toward other things like Game Pass subscriptions (though the last update we had on those was the 25 million announced in January 2022).

Now, however, we may have some sort of approximation of sales from both last gen, Xbox One, and current gen, Xbox Series X and S, and it’s not just VGChartz, it’s from Microsoft itself.

The below is a slide from the ID@Xbox Developer Accelerator Program, and shows the playerbase for Series X/S and then “combined” with the Xbox One era.

So that’s 21 million players on Xbox Series X and S, which could be plus or minus a bit since it’s not stating outright it’s also “sales,” but that can be compared to PlayStation’s 30 million PS5 sales which were announced in January 2022 after a massive chip shortage started to alleviate.

Then, you can subtract that 21 million Xbox Series X/S players from the next “combined” number, and end up with 58 million Xbox One sales (which presumably also includes Xbox One X, the mid-gen upgrade). That’s compared to 117.2 million PS4 sales, which reinforces the longstanding notion that the PS4 outsold the Xbox One by a 2:1 margin, which previously even Microsoft has admitted. It’s almost identical 2:1, if these numbers are correct.

So, what this does show that without tripping on its face like with the Xbox One at launch, the Xbox Series X/S release had gone better for Microsoft, as they’re behind by a smaller ratio so far. However, it’s important to remember that for a solid two years, PS5 supply was nowhere close to meeting demand, and that’s only recently been solved. Sony expects to sell another 19 million PS5s this coming Fiscal Year, a number equal to what may be nearly all the Xboxes sold during this generation’s launch.

Microsoft is under no illusions that it’s competing with Sony or Nintendo in the console sales race anymore. Phil Spencer said at the FTC trial the Xbox had “lost” the console war, coming in a clear third place routinely now. Previously he’s said that the Xbox One generation was a bad one to lose with people picking sides as to where they would start crafting their digital game libraries, and now with those cemented, it’s hard, if not impossible for Xbox to significantly claw back market share (no matter what Sony says may happen if Xbox buys Call of Duty).

Again, these numbers can be plus or minus a few million as active players is not necessarily 1:1 with sales, but it’s an illuminating set of figures all the same.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls.