Microsoft finally admits Xbox One sales were less than half of the PS4

Photo by Tyler Pina / The Verge

Microsoft admits that the PS4 outsold the Xbox One in the official sales of the consoles.

Microsoft stopped reporting sales figures for the Xbox One at the beginning of the 2016 financial year. The change made it impossible to know how well the PS4 was holding up compared to the XBOX One. According to analyst estimates, Microsoft is in third place behind Sony and Nintendo, and now documents submitted to Brazil's national competition regulators show how the Xbox One generation went.

According to Microsoft, Sony has sold more consoles than Microsoft has in the last generation.

As of March, lifetime sales of the PS4 totaled 117.4 million. According to Microsoft, the company must have sold less than 5 million units of the console. Ampere Analysis put the install base of Xbox One at 51 million units at the end of the second quarter of 2020. Nintendo is on track to pass the PS4 later this year.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Microsoft appears to be closing the gap with its consoles. According to Ampere Analysis, the cumulative sell-through of the PS5 was 17 million units, 1.6 times that of the XBOX Series. Microsoft has been the market leader in North America for three quarters in a row among next-gen consoles, according to the company's CEO. Microsoft doesn't reveal official sales figures

Microsoft's work on the Xbox One generation laid the groundwork for the X generation. Thanks to testing on previous Xbox One consoles, Microsoft transitioned into the Xbox Series X with 1440p support, variable refresh rate, and lots of 120Hz games all at launch.

Microsoft admitted that its Xbox One sales were weak, as part of a larger debate between Microsoft and Sony over the acquisition of the video game publisher. Microsoft is trying to clear its acquisition in Brazil while Sony is arguing over Call of Duty. According to Microsoft, Sony pays for blocking rights to prevent developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass.