Court Documents Confirm Xbox One Sold Less Than Half PS4 Numbers

A high-profile case is ongoing in Brazil, as Microsoft attempts to defend its Activision Blizzard acquisition from CADE, the Brazilian competition authority. Official court documents have revealed a lot of juicy details so far. The latest court papers from Microsoft have confirmed that the Xbox One sold less than half of Sony’s PlayStation 4 throughout its lifetime.

Microsoft has been refusing to release console sales information since 2015, claiming it isn’t the “key metric of success” they like to focus on. Microsoft prefers to focus on engagement, a key factor for the creation of the Xbox Game Pass. The hesitation to release sales figures never stopped business analysts from coming up with some accurate estimations of sales. Ampere Analysis data predicted 51 million sales of the Xbox One line of consoles in 2020, and it appears they were right.

The information can be found on page 18 of the Microsoft court papers dated Aug. 9, 2022. The translated line reads “Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many [than] Xbox in the last generation”, from a rough Google translation. A member of GameLuster staff who can read Spanish was able to partially read the Portuguese, and concurs with this translation.

Sony recently released their final PS4 sales figures, confirming 117.2 million sales of the console line, making it the second biggest home console of all time. This means the Xbox One consoles must have sold less than approximately 58.5 million units, which is in line with former industry analysts predictions. This places the Xbox One right below the NES, and just above the SNES.

50-something million sales is hardly a failure, but likely far below what Microsoft had hoped for the Xbox One. Regardless of the numbers, Microsoft seems to be learning from its past mistakes. By focusing on delivering games that people want through acquisitions, Microsoft hopes to see increased Xbox sales and rising Game Pass subscription numbers.

Were you one of the 50-ish million Xbox owners? Whether you were or not, how do you feel about Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more industry news.