PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X: the most popular console
We analysed console market share, launch unit sales, and search interest across 167 countries to settle the next-gen console war. PlayStation won, but the map has some surprises.
In November 2020 the two console giants went head-to-head with the launch of their next-gen machines: the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The hype was enormous, and both ended up selling millions of units within the first month alone.
So out of the two rivals, who actually won? Who had the most sales, and who took the “console war”? We pulled together market share, unit sales, and online search data across the globe to find out, and the most striking findings are below, including which console is the overall most popular.
- 65.05%PlayStation’s global console market share
- 4.48MPS5 units sold vs ~2.4M Xbox Series X|S
- 167countries analysed for console preference
- 12countries where Xbox came out on top
PlayStation vs Xbox: one clear winner
Based on the market-share data, Sony’s PlayStation comes out as the most popular gaming console, taking 65.05% of the global console market.
Despite the clear loss, Xbox performed noticeably better than in previous years. Microsoft’s consoles held just 25.29% of the market in 2018, climbed to 37.41% in 2019, and averaged 39.29% across 2020, with December 2020 coming in at 34.94%. Xbox is still behind, but gaining.
Unit sales comparison
The market-share gap is reflected in the hardware numbers: the PS5 sold roughly 2 million more units than its rival. In total the PS5 had sold around 4.48 million consoles, against roughly 2.4 million for the Xbox Series X|S.
A breakdown of worldwide console popularity
Just like players have their favourites, so do countries. We mapped console preference for nearly every nation on Earth. Of the 167 countries examined, only 12 had Xbox as their favourite console: the United States, Mexico, China, Hungary, Afghanistan, Belarus, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, Liberia, and Slovenia. Everywhere else, PlayStation led.
A selection of the per-country split (PlayStation vs Xbox share):
| Country | Favourite | PlayStation | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Xbox | 49.80% | 50.18% |
| United Kingdom | PlayStation | 54.61% | 45.39% |
| Canada | PlayStation | 53.51% | 46.49% |
| Japan | PlayStation | 98.49% | 1.51% |
| Mexico | Xbox | 37.73% | 62.27% |
| Australia | PlayStation | 57.77% | 42.22% |
| Germany | PlayStation | 80.60% | 19.40% |
| India | PlayStation | 91.54% | 8.46% |
| Brazil | PlayStation | 57.86% | 43.32% |
| Sweden | PlayStation | 70.78% | 29.22% |
Sources
- StatCounter: console market share, worldwide (global and per-country console platform share)
- VGChartz: PS5 vs Xbox Series X|S launch sales (unit-sales estimates through the first weeks after launch)
- Google Trends (relative search interest by region)
- Full raw dataset (Google Sheets) (per-country market share for all 167 countries)
Originally published January 10, 2021. All figures reflect the data available at that time and are kept here for the historical record.