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Microsoft’s most recent earnings call might have just upended the world gaming order. For nearly three decades, PlayStations have outsold Microsoft in every generation, but that power dynamic might finally be shifting. According to tweets from Microsoft VP of communications Frank Shaw quoting CEO Satya Nadella during a recent earnings call, the Xbox Series X|S has outsold the PlayStation 5 in several world regions for the second straight quarter. "With our Xbox Series S and X consoles, we have taken share globally for two quarters in a row and were the market leader this quarter among next-gen consoles in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Western Europe," Shaw wrote on Twitter. Neither Nadella nor Shaw shared any specific numbers, but taking “share” implies that the Xbox Series X|S outsold both the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
This is a big change. The PlayStation 4 vastly outsold the Xbox One on the world stage, and the PlayStation 2 blew Xbox completely out of the water. For the Xbox Series X|S to take on the PlayStation 5 and win is a first for the company. Although, we should point out that Sony’s confirmed global PS5 sales since release are truly staggering, so it’ll be some time before we can declare a winner in the current console war.
But momentum is shifting. Back in January, the Xbox Series X|S outsold the PS5 in the UK for the first time, while sales of the PS5 dropped below the rate set by the PS4 over the same period. Meanwhile, the current-gen Xbox is now the fastest-selling Xbox in history, which helped propel the world’s home console market to a 13-year-high.
And it's not just the console war that Microsoft is winning. Elsewhere in the earnings call, Shaw revealed Game Pass subscribers have spent "billions of hours" on games downloaded or streamed, and subscriber numbers have climbed 45% in the past 12 months. Sony is playing catch up with its own game subscription service, which is set to receive a tiered revamp in June.