Journalist Christopher Dring has claimed that there’s an 80/20 split in favour of PlayStation versus Xbox in regard to launch sales for new triple-A single-player games.
Citing confidential sales data, Dring stated that the split is “often lower” for online multiplayer titles, and come on the heels of Microsoft denying that the PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto VI had taken the lion’s share of preorders so far. Dring touched base on this in comments to VGC, stating that the actual figure was “unlikely to be as extreme” as 8-to-1, but noted single-player titles are performing far greater at launch on Sony’s console.
It obviously varies by title. But if you take an AAA single-player title like Resident Evil Requiem, Crimson Desert or 007 First Light, you’re seeing about 75 – 80% of their sales coming on PlayStation during the launch month (removing PC data). As I say, it varies by game. An online shooter often does very well on Xbox, for instance, when factoring in the install base. I would add that 30% of a multi-million-selling game is a lot of games.
Microsoft’s hardware has been struggling in recent years, and the console maker switched to a multiplatform strategy in 2024 by bringing a number of its major IPs to rival formats. These have included titles such as Gears of War Reloaded, Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and others, with Halo: Campaign Evolved and Fable all set to arrive on PS5.
However, Microsoft announced during its most recent Xbox Games Showcase that Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will Xbox console exclusives, so it remains to be seen how many of its upcoming first-party titles will make the jump to PS5. The shift is one of the major changes ushered in by executive Asha Sharma, who took over from Phil Spencer as CEO of Xbox back in February, who commented “we’re committed to investing in and growing Xbox both on console and beyond.”
[Source – Christopher Dring via VGC]
