The actual retail data will be available this Thursday

Oct 14, 2014 07:37 GMT  ·  By

It seems that the Xbox One might have beat the PlayStation 4 in terms of sales during the month of September, for the second time since launch, in the United States.

Sony's latest home console, the PlayStation 4, has been steadily beating Microsoft's computer entertainment system, the Xbox One, month after month, since the two hardware platforms were launched, in November last year.

Webush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates that Microsoft's hardware sales for the month of September are around the 325k mark, while Sony only managed to sell 250k PS4 units at retailers.

"We expect Xbox One sales to exceed those of the PS4 for only the second month since launch," Pachter revealed in a note to investors.

The PlayStation 4 has a huge momentum, with the company confirming surpassing the 10 million units sold mark in terms of worldwide sales as early as August, while the latest figures from Microsoft, dating from back in April, only put Xbox One sales at over 5 million.

A solid September for Microsoft, but at a cost

The month of September saw the launch of Destiny, Activision's blockbuster sci-fi first-person shooter, which Sony marketed as a PlayStation 4 game, in spite of the fact that the title is readily available on other platforms, such as the Xbox One and last-generation consoles.

The numbers predicted by the Wedbush Morgan analyst are based on Microsoft's efforts to appeal to gamers' wallets over the duration of the month.

"From Sept. 7 through [Sept.] 13, Microsoft offered a free game with the purchase of a new Xbox One at participating retailers," said Pachter.

Microsoft's offer was introduced at the same time the Madden NFL 15 Xbox One bundle was made available, which means that gamers could basically get two mass-appeal free games with a new console purchase.

"I kind of think that free Destiny [on Xbox One] was better than [paying] for Destiny on PS4," Pacther told GamesBeat.

Madden NFL 15's appeal was described by the analyst as "pretty compelling," leading to his sales forecast.

The numbers offered by the analyst are only predictions, but we'll know the truth come Thursday, when The NPD Group, an industry-tracking firm following the evolution of retail in the US, will reveal the sales data pertaining to the month of September.

However, that still doesn't mean that the Xbox One managed to outsell the PS on a global scale, as VGChartz estimates the console's worldwide sales for the month of September to be around 550k units, while the PlayStation 4 sold an estimated 1 million units.