In the ever-shifting conflict that is the console war, new fronts open and close, and unlikely alliances are struck between bitter foes.
Recently, it seems that Xbox has managed to gain ground on its ancestral enemies — that is, of course, if you take Microsoft's word for it. In a call to investors, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that Xbox has increased its market share globally, though it did not say by how much, or what other company lost ground. (You can probably guess which one it is, though.)
Big boost —
Nadella further stated that Xbox was the "market leader" among next-gen consoles in North America, the U.K., and western Europe.
NPD's numbers have indicated for quite a while now that the Xbox Series X and S have sold very well in the U.S. over the past few months. In fact, combined sales for the two consoles in March exceeded Microsoft's wildest expectations, giving Xbox its best March in terms of console hardware revenue ever.
However, NPD also indicated that the Nintendo Switch is the best-selling console in the U.S. for all of 2022 so far. Also, Elden Ring was the best-selling premium game of the period, surprising no one.
In its report, NPD suggested that Xbox consoles are more widely available compared to the PlayStation 5, and that's a major factor in their increased sales. (Indeed, PS5's are still out of stock quite frequently, even at big retailers.)
Pass it on —
The popularity of Xbox Game Pass is likely also a big draw for new buyers. However, unlike previous investor calls, we did not get a new Game Pass subscriber count, but it's certainly higher than the 25 million that the company announced in January. Unfortunately, most of those subscribers apparently aren't interested in Halo Infinite. (Neither am I.)
