Xbox One Sales Hit Record High In January, But Still Couldn’t Surpass PS4

Microsoft can celebrate a strong start to 2017 in terms of console sales. The company said it sold more Xbox One consoles in the United States in January of this year than any previous January, of which there have been three others since the Xbox One debuted in November of 2013. That is a pretty remarkable feat considering the age of the console and the fact that Microsoft previously revealed plans to release a more powerful console (Project Scorpio) at the end of this year.

Xbox One S

Even with that knowledge, consumers came out and purchase Xbox One and Xbox One S consoles in record number to start the year. Microsoft also noted that Xbox One game hours grew somewhat significantly, which bodes well for game developers who might be wondering if buyers are trading game time for streaming media applications on the Xbox One, such as watching Netflix and Hulu.

"Thanks to continued support by our fans, 2017 is off to a strong start as Xbox One game hours grew 21 percent year-over-year," Mike Nichols, corporate vice president of Xbox Marketing, told GamesBeat. "In addition, in the U.S., Xbox One had its best January to date and was the only eighth generation console that saw growth in January compared to the prior year according to NPD Group. Team Xbox is committed to delivering the best gaming experiences for our fans."

PlayStation 4 Pro

While Microsoft is understandably delighted at the continued and growing interest in its Xbox One console, Sony has reason to celebrate as well. According to Sony, even though Microsoft had its best month ever in terms of Xbox One sales, the PlayStation 4 was still the best selling system for the month. The company also pointed out that four of the five best-selling games during the month were PS4 titles.

There are no numbers attached to these braggadocios statements by either firm and that's because the source of the data, NPD Group, is still finalizing its report. That said, Sony in January announced that it had shipped 53.4 million PS4 consoles worldwide to date, along with software sales reaching more than 400 million. Not too shabby.