The XBox One Finally Ends A Month On Top
Ever since the Playstation 4 and the XBox One initiated the current console generation, the XBox has been choking on the PS4’s dust. This was largely the result of self-sabotage on Microsoft’s part — if you recall, the One was initially promoted as locking games to consoles so that your friends couldn’t borrow them, and needing a constant online connection to function. It also hit the market at a price point $100 above the PS4 — and there weren’t many games. All of these bad decisions were eventually reversed, but the damage to their reputation would take years to heal.
Now, thanks to more consumer-friendly practices, a growing library of exclusive games, and aggressive price-cutting, the XBox One has finally ended a month selling more units than the PS4. It was the latter that affected the numbers the most; July was the month the original model was put on fire-sale prices to make way for the new XBox One S. They may not be able to maintain their lead for long, but for now, they can brag.
“We’re honored that Xbox One was the best-selling console in the U.S. in July, and that total gaming hours on Xbox consoles globally were up 18 percent over last year, reaching 1.55 billion hours,” said Xbox marketing boss Mike Nichols.
Microsoft won this battle, but not the war. There are still far more Playstation 4s in American homes than XBoxes — 43.5 million of them.