PlayStation 4 was the best-selling home console in the United States last month, according to the latest figures from the NPD Group.
Sony’s flagship games system managed to fend off competition from the Nintendo Switch, which topped the hardware charts for two consecutive months following its debut in March 2017. As per the norm, we don’t know how many PS4 units were shifted during May, although hardware sales overall reached $147 million during the period, representing a 7 percent growth.
Despite this, total sales for the games industry dipped 11 percent, falling from $610 million in May 2016 to $542 in the same period this year. The fall has been primarily attributed to a decline in software sales, which fell 20 percent year-on-year.
The PS4 launched in November 2013 in Europe and the U.S., and has since gone head-to-head with Microsoft’s Xbox One. Sony’s machine quickly established a significant lead over its rival, selling over 60 million units worldwide and drumming up 487.8 million software sales to boot. Microsoft has remained quiet in regards to sales of its flagship system, but it is believed Xbox One has moved around half the numbers of PS4.
Last year saw the two major hardware launches for PS4, with the PS4 Pro and the PS4 Slim. The former is a high-end version of the console offering enhanced visual and frame rate capabilities, while the Slim version is essentially a revamped standard PS4 featuring various cosmetic tweaks, meaning it doesn’t take up as much space or consume as much power.
Sony has a number of high-profile exclusives due out in 2018, including God of War, Detroit: Become, and Spider-Man. This year isn’t looking too shabby either mind, with the likes of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Gran Turismo Sport, and others fleshing out Sony’s late 2017 lineup.
Source: GameSpot