14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group has announced that the PlayStation 4 home console has managed to outsell the Xbox One during the month of August in the United States, which means that it leads the hardware chart for the eighth month in a row.
The team in charge of the new device at Sony has reacted to the information, according to NeoGAF, by stating via senior vice president Guy Longworth that “PlayStation 4 was No. 1 in hardware sales for the eighth consecutive month. And it remains the cumulative leader for new-generation game consoles.”
Neither the NPD Group nor the platform holder have stated exactly how many PlayStation 4 home consoles were sold in August, but estimates are hovering around the 175,000 mark.
Microsoft still believes in a positive trajectory
Meanwhile, Microsoft has taken second place when it comes to sales, but the company still believes that the future is bright for the Xbox One and that the results of its recent initiatives will be seen in September.
An official statement explains that “Xbox One sales are on a positive trajectory, nearly doubling sales in August in the U.S. compared to July due in part to strong demand for the Xbox One Madden NFL 15 bundle. We’re looking forward to bringing the best value bundles, incredible offers like the ‘Buy a Console, Get a Game Free’ promotion running now, and more great games as we gear up for the launches of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Destiny, Grand Theft Auto V, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.”
The two consoles will have to come up with special bundles and promotions in order to draw gamers in in November and early December, which are crucial to yearly sales because of the increased demand generated by Christmas.
Xbox One and PS4 also need great games
The troubling information in the NPD Group data for August 2014 is that money spent on video games has declined when compared to the same month in 2013 by 21 percent, which is a big number.
Madden NFL 15 has managed to top the chart when it comes to video games, followed by Diablo 3, but other smaller releases did not manage to generate great sales at retail.
Digital download services might compensate for some of that loss, as might the shift to MMOs and free-to-play experiences, but in order for the modern console generation to thrive, Sony and Microsoft will need to deliver more titles that can quickly turn into hits.