PS4 vs Xbox One: Sony is leading for the sixth consecutive month

Microsoft recently stated that Xbox One sales have more than doubled ever since the Kinect was dropped. Unfortunately for the company, it wasn’t enough as according to the latest NPD report, the PS4 outsold the Xbox One yet again and is now in the lead for the sixth consecutive month. PS4 owners are not the only ones that rejoiced when hearing the good news, Sony themselves could’t contain their enthusiasm and bragged about the victory on Twitter. Microsoft was certainly not pleased about this, but they are reportedly taking the news rather well and are emphasizing the fact that the Xbox One is doing better than in previous months and looks to be making a comeback. We have to agree, but for now, the PS4 is still well ahead in the console wars.

Breaking news: PS4 is #1 top-selling US next-gen console in June, 6th month in a row. Thanks for your support! <3 pic.twitter.com/r5bTKg4wYf

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 17, 2014

Rivalry aside, let’s take a look at the figures disclosed by NPD for the month of June shall we? Overall the gaming industry is slowly but surely continuing to grow with gamers spending a total of $736.4 million on physical products in June, an increase of 24% from last year’s $593.5 million. Hardware sales were the main reason for this while software sales went down a bit compared to June 2013 due to the lack of major new releases. “Sales of launch titles in June 2014 did not compare favorably to those launched in June 2013, which included the PS3 exclusive The Last of Us, along with Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and a retail version of Minecraft for the Xbox 360,” says NPD analyst Liam Callahan.

Watch Dogs was once again the biggest selling title with Mario Kart 8, Minecraft, UFC, and FIFA 14 following close behind. Gamers only spent a total of $286.8 million on new titles at retail last month, down 3% from last year’s $296.1. Given that few games were released in June, the most popular titles sold were the ones that were released back in May. “In terms of software titles, many of the top games in June 2014 mirrored those of May 2014, with six of the same games ranking in the top ten,” said Callahan. “Three of these top ten games were also new launches from May 2014 — Watch Dogs, Mario Kart 8, and Wolfenstein: The New Order — indicating the weakness of new launches in June.”

While NPD didn’t disclose any exact figures in regards to the Xbox One and PS4 sales, they do reveal that the new generation is selling much better that the previous one already. “Combined sales of Xbox One and PS4 are over 80 percent higher than the combined totals for Xbox 360 and PS3, an indication of the strength of the start of this new console generation,” said Callahan.