Sony not only has it won the last generations of consoles, but it has turned Microsoft around. That is at least according to the court documents of microsoftwho claim that the PS4 sold more than double the Xbox One.
The documents are part of efforts to microsoft for getting its acquisition of Activision Blizzard past Brazilian regulators. As part of the tests, the gaming giant revealed that the ill-fated Xbox One sold less than half the figures of the PS4which is equivalent to less than 58 million units.
“Sony has overtaken Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many Xbox [sic] in the last generation“, reads the court document presented to Brazilian regulators (thanks, GameLuster).
This is the first official indication of the level of sales of the Xbox One since 2015. At that time, microsoft stopped disclosing sales of its console, arguing that its priorities were shifting away from hardware success. And with the resounding success of Game Pass, we’ve seen just that.
As for your streaming service, microsoft has also jumped into the fray to push back against claims that adding Activision Blizzard titles to Game Pass would be unfair to its rivals. “Microsoft’s subscription gaming offering, Xbox Game Pass, has been launched as Microsoft’s competitive response to the failure of Xbox in the ‘console war,'” the document says.
The company goes on to suggest that Game Pass does not compete with other streaming services, but with the “buy-to-play” model of Sony. He says Sony has used it “quite successfully.”
Throughout the industry giant’s attempt to get its deal with Activision Blizzard approved, we’ve seen plenty of attempts to make it seem less threatening to the industry. As we recently reported, Microsoft claimed that there is “nothing unique” about Activision Blizzard’s game catalog, arguing that the studio doesn’t produce any “must-have” titles.
As harsh as it sounds, it’s all part of an effort to assuage concerns that the deal would give Microsoft a monopoly in the industry, so we can expect even more language like this.